William Allen Blair (born December 18, 1965) is an American former

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

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), ...

and current pitching coach for the

West Michigan Whitecaps The West Michigan Whitecaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Comstock Park, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids, and play their home games at LMCU Ballpa ...

Playing career

Blair played baseball for

Morehead State University Morehead State University (MSU) is a public university in Morehead, Kentucky. The university began as Morehead Normal School, which opened its doors in 1887. The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, a two-year residential ...

before the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

drafted him in the 11th round of the 1986 amateur draft. He spent four seasons in the Blue Jays minor league system, playing for the St. Catharines Blue Jays (1986), the

Dunedin Blue Jays The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpar ...

(1987–1988), the

Knoxville Smokies Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...

(1988), and the

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

(1989). Blair made his major league debut with the Blue Jays on April 11, 1990, and spent the season with the major league squad. He was traded in the offseason to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

for Alex Sanchez, and played in 11 games for the Indians that year. Blair was then traded to the Houston Astros with

Eddie Taubensee Edward Kenneth Taubensee (born October 31, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball catcher. Taubensee played for three different ballclubs during his career: the Cleveland Indians (, ), Houston Astros (-), and Cincinnati Reds (-). He made his ...

for

Kenny Lofton Kenneth Lofton (born May 31, 1967) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. Lofton was a six-time All-Star (1994–1999), four-time Gold Glove Award winner (1993–1996), and at retirement, was ranked 15th amon ...

and

Dave Rohde David Grant Rohde (born May 8, 1964) is a former utility infielder in Major League Baseball, playing mainly as a second baseman from 1990 through 1992 for the Houston Astros and Cleveland Indians. Listed at 6' 2", 180 lb., he was a switch hitte ...

. After a season with Houston, he was picked up by the Colorado Rockies in their expansion draft. After the Rockies (1993–1994), he played for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

(1995–1996), Detroit Tigers (1997, 1999–2001),

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

(1998), and

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 ...

(1998). His best year was 1997, in which he had 16–8 record and an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) of 4.17. In 1999, Blair was the starting pitcher for the final Opening Day in Tiger Stadium history.

Coaching career

He was the pitching coach for the

Fort Wayne TinCaps The Fort Wayne TinCaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and play their home games at Parkview Field. They won their lone Midwest Le ...

for the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and on December 11, 2012, he was named

bullpen 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 decisi ...

of the

, replacing Jimmy Jones. On December 2, 2015, Blair was named the pitching coach for the Double-A Erie SeaWolves. He was transferred to the Single-A Whitecaps in December 2018. Blair currently lives in Richmond, Kentucky.

References

External links

Pelota Binaria (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Willie 1965 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona Diamondbacks players Baseball coaches from Kentucky Baseball players from Kentucky Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Cleveland Indians players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Detroit Tigers players Dunedin Blue Jays players Houston Astros players Knoxville Blue Jays players Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball coaches Morehead State Eagles baseball players People from Paintsville, Kentucky San Diego Padres coaches San Diego Padres players New York Mets players St. Catharines Blue Jays players Syracuse Chiefs players Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Blue Jays players Tucson Toros players West Michigan Whitecaps players