Paul L. D. Blair (February 1, 1944 – December 26, 2013) was an American professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player and
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
. He played in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
as an
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...
from through , most notably as the
center fielder
A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...
for the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
dynasty that won four
American League pennants and two
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
championships between 1966 and 1971. He also played for the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
and the
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
.
[News services and staff reports (December 28, 2013]
"Star center fielder won two titles with Orioles"
''The Washington Post'', page B4. Retrieved December 28, 2013
A two-time
All-Star player, Blair excelled as a defensive player, winning the
Gold Glove Award eight times, including seven consecutive years from to .
[Klingaman, Mike]
"Catching Up With...Former Oriole Paul Blair"
''The Toy Department'' (''The Baltimore Sun'' sports blog), Tuesday, May 4, 2010 One of the best defensive outfielders of his era, he had excellent range and was brilliant at tracking fly balls. He challenged hitters by playing shallow, then running down balls hit over his head. In 1984, Blair was inducted into the
Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame The Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame is a team Hall of Fame dedicated to representing the most significant contributors to the history of the Baltimore Orioles professional baseball team since the first season of Baltimore baseball in 1954, which has ...
.
Early life
Blair was born in
Cushing, Oklahoma
Cushing ( sac, Koshineki, iow, Amína P^óp^oye Chína, ''meaning: "Soft-seat town"'') is a city in Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 7,826 at the time of the 2010 census, a decline of 6.5% since 8,371 in 2000. Cushing ...
but grew up in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
where he attended
Manual Arts High School
Manual Arts High School is a secondary public school in Los Angeles, California, United States.
History
Manual Arts High School was founded in 1910 in the middle of bean fields, one-half mile from the nearest bus stop. It was the third high sch ...
. An accomplished athlete, he played basketball, baseball and ran track while a student. Blair was originally signed by the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
as an amateur
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
in . After spending the season in their
farm system
In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...
, he was selected by the Orioles in the 1962 first-year draft on November 26, 1962.
Major league career
Baltimore Orioles
He broke into the Orioles' lineup in and, despite
hitting only .234 with five
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
s and 25
runs batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
, impressed many with his defensive skills. In he batted .277 on an Orioles team that won the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
. In Games 3 and 4 of that series, which the
Frank Robinson
Frank Robinson (August 31, 1935 – February 7, 2019) was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams, from to . The only player to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of both ...
-led Orioles swept from the defending champion
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
in four games, Blair played a major role in 1–0 shutouts by
Wally Bunker
Wallace Edward Bunker (born January 25, 1945) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. A right-hander, Bunker pitched for the Baltimore Orioles from to and Kansas City Royals from to .
Biography
Bunker pitched for the Capuchino High School ...
and
Dave McNally
David Arthur McNally (October 31, 1942 – December 1, 2002) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from 1962 through 1975, most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dy ...
respectively, hitting a 430-foot home run off
Claude Osteen in Game 3, and robbing
Jim Lefebvre
James Kenneth Lefebvre ( ; born January 7, 1942) is a former major league baseball player, coach, and manager. An infielder, he was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1962.
Baseball career Playing career
Lefebvre was th ...
of an eighth-inning home run that would have tied Game 4. Blair also caught
Lou Johnson
Louis Brown Johnson (September 22, 1934 – October 1, 2020), nicknamed Sweet Lou, was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. Johnson's professional baseball career lasted for 17 seasons, and included 8 years in the majors: parts of 1960 ...
's fly ball for the final out of the Series.
![Paul Blair 1966](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Paul_Blair_1966.jpg)
In Blair established a career high .293 batting average with 11 home runs and 64 RBIs, along with an
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
-leading 12 triples. He also won the first of his eight
Gold Glove Awards. After slumping to .211 in , Blair had perhaps his best season in . Batting second behind
Don Buford
Donald Alvin Buford (born February 2, 1937) is an American former professional baseball player scout, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from through , most notably as the leadoff hitter for the Baltimore Oriol ...
in the Orioles' lineup, he hit .285 with career highs in home runs (26), runs batted in (76) and runs (102). His 26 homers along with 20 stolen bases made him the first Orioles player to achieve at least 20 in each category in the same season. He also made the All-Star team for the first time; he would repeat this feat in . His Orioles won the pennant, with Blair becoming the first player to have 5 hits in a post-season game, with 5 hits in 6
at-bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...
s against the
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
on October 6. The Orioles lost to the
Miracle Mets
The 1969 New York Mets season was the team's eighth as a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise and culminated when they won the World Series over the Baltimore Orioles. They played their home games at Shea Stadium and were managed by Gil Hodges. ...
in the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
. Blair went 2-for-20 in that Series, including being the victim of one of
Tommie Agee
Tommie Lee Agee (August 9, 1942 – January 22, 2001) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from through , most notably as a member of the New York Mets team that became known as th ...
's two spectacular catches in Game 3 (Agee had also robbed
Elrod Hendricks
Elrod Jerome "Ellie" Hendricks (December 22, 1940 – December 21, 2005) was a U.S. Virgin Islander professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from through , most notably as a member of the Baltimore ...
earlier in the game). On that Agee catch, Blair was the first batter
Nolan Ryan
Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanning four decades, Ryan ...
faced in a World Series—the only World Series game the
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
pitcher would participate in. One of Blair's two hits came in the seventh inning of Game 2; it broke up
Jerry Koosman
Jerome Martin Koosman (born December 23, 1942) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, and Philadelphia Phillies between and . ...
's bid for a
no-hitter
In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...
.
Blair was
beaned by
Ken Tatum
Kenneth Ray Tatum (born April 25, 1944) is an American retired professional baseball player. A right-handed relief pitcher, he appeared in 176 games pitched (all but two in a bullpen role) over six seasons (1969–74) for the California Angels ...
in the eighth inning of a 6–1 loss to the
California Angels at
Anaheim Stadium
Angel Stadium of Anaheim is a baseball stadium located in Anaheim, California. Since its opening in 1966, it has served as the home ballpark of the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB), and was also the home stadium to the Los Angel ...
on May 31,
1970.
["Angels Triumph Over Orioles, 6‐1; Blair Is Injured," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Sunday, May 31, 1970.](_blank)
Retrieved October 15, 2020 He sustained a broken nose,
orbital floor fractures below his left
eye and a broken
cheekbone. The beaning was unintentional, as Tatum had grazed the jersey front of the previous batter
Boog Powell
John Wesley "Boog" Powell (born August 17, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and left fielder from through , most prominently as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dyna ...
.
Blair returned to the starting lineup three weeks later, finishing the season batting .267. After going 1 for 13 in the
American League Championship Series, he had the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
' highest
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
and
on-base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...
with .474 and .524 respectively and shared with
Series MVP Brooks Robinson the five-game Fall Classic record with nine hits apiece.
Jim Palmer
James Alvin Palmer (born October 15, 1945) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1965–1967, 1969–1984). Palmer was the winningest MLB pitcher in the ...
wrote that "ever since he got hit by a pitch, he isn't the hitter he was."
In Blair took up
switch-hitting but stopped after batting only .193 (11-for-57). He finished the season hitting .262. His Orioles won another pennant, but lost the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
to the
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
in seven games.
During the 1971 World Series, Blair earned a place in baseball history in Game 4 by being the first man to bat in a World Series night game. Leading off the top of the first inning, Blair singled off Pittsburgh's Luke Walker.
Blair's speed going back in the outfield enabled him to play shallow, and make catches à la
Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...
. In each of the Orioles' three straight World Series seasons, Blair won a Gold Glove. He also won a Gold Glove over each of the next four seasons, his last Gold Glove in coinciding with teammate
Brooks Robinson winning his 16th consecutive — and last — Gold Glove at third base.
New York Yankees
Blair was traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for
Elliott Maddox
Elliott Maddox (born December 21, 1947) is an American former Major League Baseball player. In , he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the first round (20th pick) of the draft (secondary phase). He made his MLB debut in 1970.
Early years
Maddox ...
and
Rick Bladt
Richard Alan Bladt (born December 9, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player and an outfielder who appeared in 62 career games in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees. Born in Santa Cruz, California, h ...
on January 20,
1977. The transaction was driven by general manager
Gabe Paul
Gabriel Howard Paul (January 4, 1910 – April 26, 1998) was an American executive in Major League Baseball who, between 1951 and 1984, served as general manager of the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Colt .45s, Cleveland Indians and New York Yan ...
's desire to exile Maddox from the Yankees. Blair was primarily a defensive outfielder replacement in the late innings. On June 18 of that year in a nationally televised game against the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
at
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...
, he was tangentially involved in one of the most bizarre scenes in baseball history. Yankee manager
Billy Martin
Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yan ...
took right fielder
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Cali ...
out of the game and replaced him with Blair after Jackson had misplayed
Jim Rice
James Edward Rice (born March 8, 1953), nicknamed "Jim Ed", is a former Major League Baseball left fielder and designated hitter. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, 2009 Baseball ...
's fly ball for a double. As the cameras watched, Jackson and Martin nearly came to blows. Blair's walk-off RBI single to left off
Rick Rhoden
Richard Alan Rhoden (born May 16, 1953) is a professional golfer and former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. During his 16-year baseball career, he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1974–1978), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1979–1986), the Ne ...
won Game 1 of the
1977 World Series for the Yankees.
Actor
Seth Gilliam played Blair in one episode of the
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
mini-series ''
The Bronx Is Burning''. The mini-series chronicled the 1977 Yankees season.
Cincinnati Reds and second Yankees stint
After winning World Series titles with the Yankees in 1977 and , Blair was released early in the season. The Cincinnati Reds signed him as a free agent less than a month later, and Blair returned to the Yankees in May of . He retired after the Yankees released him a second time, on July 1 of that year.
Career summary
In his 17-year career, Blair, whose nickname, "Motormouth", came from his talkative nature, batted .250 with 134 home runs and 620 RBI, 1513 hits and 171
stolen bases in 1947 games played. He was also one of the top
bunters in the game, recording at least 10
sacrifice hit
In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, an ...
s four times in his career, including 17 during the 1975 season.
Palmer loved having Blair in the outfield because of his fielding ability. In his 1996 book ''Palmer and Weaver: Together We Were Eleven Foot Nine'', he reminisced about the time Weaver gave him three batting lineups to choose from for a game. "I'm looking basically for one thing," Palmer wrote. "Center field. We've got Paul Blair, who I personally think can field anything." According to Palmer, Blair caught 12 fly balls that night. Palmer also thought Blair "was worth two runs, defensively, every game."
Coaching career
At the end of his playing career, Blair was hired as an outfield instructor for the Yankees in 1981. In August 1982, he was named the head coach at
Fordham University. Blair coached only one season at Fordham with the team finishing with a 14–19 record. He then went back to work as an outfield instructor with the
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
and as a
third base coach
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...
for the Orioles Triple A team in
Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
and worked in that capacity until 1985.
In 1989, he played for the
Gold Coast Suns in the newly formed
Senior Professional Baseball Association
The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...
, though the league folded after the season. Blair got his next shot at coaching in 1995 when he was named the manager of the
Yonkers Hoot Owls in the newly formed
Northeast League
The Northeast League was a professional independent baseball league that operated in the Northeastern United States from 1995 until 1998 and from 2003 until 2004. Between 1999 and 2002, the league was part of the Northern League after the two leag ...
, an independent league of professional baseball. The team lasted just one season and finished a dismal 12–52.
Blair got his next, and last, shot at coaching in 1998 when he was named as the head coach for the
Coppin State College baseball team. Blair coached the team from 1998–2002. Unfortunately, his overall record at Coppin State was a disappointing 30–185.
In the mid-1990s Blair was named the assistant general manager of the yet-to-be named New Orleans franchise in the
United Baseball League
United League Baseball was an independent baseball league that operated in Texas. The league operated from 2006 to 2009. The league then temporarily merged with the Northern League and the Golden Baseball League to form the North American League ...
(UBL) (which was a planned third
major league).
Later life and death
![Blair, Paul (2007)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Blair%2C_Paul_%282007%29.jpg)
After his retirement from coaching, Blair lived in
Woodstock, Maryland
Woodstock is an unincorporated community which is a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The original village of Woodstock is located in Howard County, and also includes portions of Baltimore County and Carroll County.
History
Thomas ...
with his wife, Gloria.
In his retirement, Blair often appeared in celebrity golf and bowling tournaments.
At the time of his death, he was known for working out at Triangle Fitness in
Eldersburg, Maryland
Eldersburg is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The population was 30,531 at the 2010 census.
History
Eldersburg is named after John Elder. The community was served by a post ...
and bowling at Kings Point Lanes in
Reisterstown, Maryland
Reisterstown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 25,968.
Founded by German immigrant John Reister in 1758, Reisterstown is located ...
. His son Paul Blair III played eight years in the minors for the
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
and the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
.
On December 26, 2013, Blair suffered a heart attack and lost consciousness while playing in a celebrity bowling tournament in
Pikesville, Maryland. He was taken by ambulance to Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, where he was pronounced dead.
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
In baseball statistics, a stolen base is credited to a baserunner when he successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is throwing the ball to home plate. Under Rule 7.01 of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Official Rules, a runner acqu ...
*
List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
References
*
External links
, o
Retrosheet o
SABR Biography Project*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Paul
1944 births
2013 deaths
African-American baseball players
American League All-Stars
Baltimore Orioles players
Baseball players from Oklahoma
Cangrejeros de Santurce (baseball) players
Cincinnati Reds players
Coppin State Eagles baseball coaches
Elmira Pioneers players
Fordham Rams baseball coaches
Gold Coast Suns (baseball) players
Gold Glove Award winners
Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente outfielders
Major League Baseball center fielders
Minor league baseball coaches
New York Yankees players
People from Cushing, Oklahoma
People from Woodstock, Maryland
Rochester Red Wings coaches
Rochester Red Wings players
Santa Barbara Rancheros players
Stockton Ports players
Baseball coaches from Oklahoma
20th-century African-American sportspeople
21st-century African-American people