Paul Blair

Quotes About Blair
"I never saw Paul Blair's first step." — Earl Weaver, on Blair's amazing range in center field.

Quotes From Blair
"Earl [Weaver] and Billy [Martin] were a lot alike. Both were fiery and competitive. But there was one big difference: Earl was forgiving. Billy held a drudge. Once you got into Billy's doghouse, you were there to stay."

Played For
Baltimore Orioles (1964-1976)
New York Yankees (1977-1979)
Cincinnati Reds (1979)
New York Yankees (1980)

Best Season: 1969
Blair set career-highs in at-bats, hits, runs, doubles, homers, and RBI. He hit .400 on the AL Playoffs, but struggled in the World Series, going 2-for-20.

Factoids
Center fielder Paul Blair is the only outfielder to ever win a Gold Glove for the Baltimore Orioles.

Description
As a teenager out of Los Angeles, Blair was a skinny six-footer. He added muscle as he matured in the minors. He was lean and fast, and had quick wrists. He was known as a great fastball hitter, who liked the ball inside. He crowded the plate, which is one reason he was hit by Tatum's pitch in 1970.

Where He Played
Blair had always been a shortstop, until he got into the minor leagues. The Orioles made him an outfielder, and he quickly became the top non-pitching prospect in their organization. The Dodgers refused to sign Blair out of high school, he because they thought he was too small to make it the big leagues. He was signed by the Mets originally, for a $2,000 bonus.

As a Manager
Blair coached the baseball team for Coppin State (Baltimore, Maryland) for five seasons. Despite leading the program to improvement, he was let go.

Born
Paul L D Blair was born on February 1, 1944, in Cushing, OK.

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Primary Position:  OF

Primary Team:  BAL

Major League Debut
September 9, 1964 ... Blair was a pinch-runner in his first game, and did not play in the field or come to bat. He appeared in eight games that season, but only came to bat in the final game, when he struck out against Ed Rakow.

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1964
Tony Perez
Bert Campaneris
Don Kessinger
Paul Blair
Lou Piniella
Phil Niekro
Luis Tiant
Mel Stottlemyre
Mickey Stanley

Nicknames
Motormouth

In the minor leagues, Blair was known for chirping wuite a bit when he was in a groove. After one bad stretch, he finally busted out with a home run and a few other hits in a game. On the bench, a teammate commented that the rest of the guys would be sure to hear all about it from Blair. Manager Harry Dalton said, "Oh no, let's not get that motor going again." Thus, he became Motormouth.

Similar Players
Defensively, Jimmy Piersall.

Related Players
Blair and Reggie Jackson were teammates with Baltimore in 1976, and in the Bronx with the Yankees in 1977-1978. Blair, who was a calming influence in the clubhouse, claimed that had he not been in New York, Reggie would have been in a fight every day of the 1977 season.

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1986 BBWAA 8 1.9%

Post-Season Appearances
1966 World Series
1969 American League Championship Series
1969 World Series
1970 American League Championship Series
1970 World Series
1971 World Series
1971 American League Championship Series
1973 American League Championship Series
1974 American League Championship Series
1977 World Series
1977 American League Championship Series
1978 American League Championship Series
1978 World Series

Post-Season Notes
Blair hit the longest home run of his career in Game Three of the 1966 World Series. It was a 430-foot blast to center field off Claude Osteen in Memorial Park in Baltimore.

Awards and Honors
1967 AL Gold Glove
1969 AL Gold Glove
1970 AL Gold Glove
1971 AL Gold Glove
1972 AL Gold Glove
1973 AL Gold Glove
1974 AL Gold Glove
1975 AL Gold Glove

Feats
Blair set a World Series record with nine hits in the five-game 1970 World Series.

Batting Feats

• October 6, 1969: 5 Hits in ALCS Game...


• April 29, 1970: 3 HR...

Injuries and Explanation for Missed Playing Time
In 1970, Blair was hit in the cheek, under his left eye, by a fastball from Ken Tatum of the Angels. It shattered about four different bones in his face and he underwent surgery. He missed 21 games, but rebounded to play another 10 seasons. Contrary to some who say he was never quite the same hitter, Blair claimed he was unaffected by the incident. He never saw Tatum's pitch, so, Blair said "I was never haunted by images of the ball hitting me."

Hitting Streaks
17 games (1969)

Transactions
After the 1976 season, Blair wanted out of Baltimore. The shoddy way in which Brooks Robinson had been treated, and other moves, had soured him on the Oriole front office. He requested a trade, and was dealt to the Yanks for Elliott Maddox and Rick Bladt.

Matchup Data
Blair had great success against Jim Kaat. He batted .345 (38-for-110) with five homers against the lefty. The right-handed hitting Blair batted .261/.416/.302 off lefties, and .244/.360/.303 against RHP in his career.

All-Star Selections
1969 AL
1973 AL

Replaced
Jackie Brandt, a former Gold Glove Award winner, who was at the tail end of his career.

Replaced By
Al Bumbry, another product of the rich Baltimore farm system, who had caddied for Blair for a few years, and also filled in at left field when needed. Bumbry had won the 1973 Al Rookie of the Year Award, but still had a hard time cracking the deep Baltimore starting lineup. He was quick like Blair, could bunt well, and had fine range in center, but he lacked the instincts that Blair had in the outfield.

Best Strength as a Player
His positioning in center, his range, and his speed and bunting skills.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Ability to handle the outside pitch. Blair, by his own admission, was too stubborn to hit the outside pitch the other way. He was a pull-hitter who loved the inside fastball. When he popped 26 homers in 1969, he abandoned any notion of spraying the ball around to increase his average.

Learn More about Paul Blair
Search Amazon.com for Books about Paul Blair ⇒
Search for Paul Blair at Google ⇒
View a map of his hometown at Mapquest ⇒

Sources used for the Paul Blair Player Page:
Interview with Paul Blair, March 4, 2006
Paul Blair Legends Series event, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, hosted by Jeff Arnett, Director of Museum Prgramming and Education, March 4, 2006