 Scheimblum is Jewish, and was born in Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan in New York City to Fred and Lee (born in Ukraine; died in 1949) Scheinblum, and grew up in Fort Apache in the South Bronx in New York City.He was very proud that he was one of only (as he recalled it) six Jewish major leaguers at the time, along with Art Shamsky, Mike Epstein, Steve Stone, Ron Blomberg, and Ken Holtzman.His father remarried and the family moved to Englewood, New Jersey, when he was 10 years old.