Paul Blair (baseball)

Paul Blair
Center fielder
Born: (1944-02-01)February 1, 1944
Cushing, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died: December 26, 2013(2013-12-26) (aged 69)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 9, 1964, for the Baltimore Orioles
Last MLB appearance
June 20, 1980, for the New York Yankees
MLB statistics
Batting average.250
Home runs134
Runs batted in620
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Paul L. D. Blair (February 1, 1944 – December 26, 2013) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1964 through 1980, most notably as the center fielder for the Baltimore Orioles dynasty that won four American League pennants and two World Series championships between 1966 and 1971. He also played for the New York Yankees and the Cincinnati Reds.[1]

A two-time All-Star player, Blair excelled as a defensive player, winning the Gold Glove Award eight times, including seven consecutive years from 1969 to 1975.[2] One of the best defensive outfielders of his era, and "perhaps the finest" he had excellent range and was brilliant at tracking fly balls.[3][4] He challenged hitters by playing shallow, then running down balls hit over his head.[5] In 1984, Blair was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.[6]

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ Klingaman, Mike. "Catching Up With...Former Oriole Paul Blair", The Toy Department (The Baltimore Sun sports blog), Tuesday, May 4, 2010
  3. ^ Weber, Bruce (December 27, 2013). "Paul Blair, Center Fielder for Champions, Dies at 69". New York Times.
  4. ^ Gregory, Jerry. "The Best Fielders of the 1970s". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  5. ^ Connolly, Dan; Klingaman, Mike (December 27, 2013). "Paul Blair, former Orioles center fielder; is dead at 69". Baltimore Sun.
  6. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame at MLB.com". mlb.com. Retrieved December 10, 2019.