The 40 Greatest Orioles of All-Time - No. 15 - Paul Blair

by SC on Mar 7, 2006 4:21 PM EST in News Comment 2 comments

15. Paul Blair, OF (1964-1976)

All-Star: 1969, 1973
Gold Glove: 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975

Paul Blair was born on February 1, 1944, in Cushing, Oklahoma, and was signed by the Mets in 1961. Blair was then drafted by the Orioles from the Mets in the 1962 first-year draft, and he'd stay an Oriole for all of his best years.

Blair is most famous for playing extremely shallow in center field, with good speed that allowed him to go backwards easily. He won the Gold Glove every year from 1967 through 1975, except for 1968. Blair became a regular in '67, though he had played pretty regularly in '65 and '66. In the 1966 World Series, Blair hit a home run in game three, his one hit in six at-bats during the Series.

In '67, Blair hit .293/.353/.446 with 11 homers, 64 RBI, 27 doubles and 12 triples. For being as fast as he was, he was never much of a base-stealer, with a career high of 27 in 1974 and 20 or more only three times.

Blair's best season, by OPS+, was 1967, but his most productive year was probably 1969, when he hit .285/.327/.477 with 32 doubles, 26 homers, 20 steals, 102 runs scored and 178 hits in 150 games.

In 1970, Blair was beaned by Ken Tatum and suffered some serious injuries to his eye. He had trouble psychologically at the plate and even tried hypnotherapy. In 1971, he attempted switch-hitting, but went 11-for-57 and stopped.

Blair stayed with the Orioles through the 1976 season. In 1975, he started to really go downhill in a hurry at age 31, hitting .218/.257/.300 in 440 at-bats, and in 1976 he was even worse, with a .197/.245/.264 line in 375 at-bats. He was traded to the Yankees on January 20, 1977, for Elliott Maddox and Rick Bladt. He was a reserve for New York for two seasons, and then was released just into the 1979 season. After a month off, he signed with the Reds. He did nothing for them, then went back to New York for 1980. He played in 12 games as a defensive replacement (just two at-bats), and retired after that year at age 36.

Blair had two really great postseason series for the Orioles in his career. In the '69 ALCS with Minnesota, he hit .400/.471/.733 with a homer and six RBI, and in the 1979 World Series against the Reds, he hit .474/.524/.526 and scored five runs. Overall for the Orioles, Blair was a part of six playoff teams. He played in five World Series in his career: 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1977 and 1978.

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Inside the park grand slam

I've never attended a no hitter, or been in attendance for any major milestones that I can recall. I've been to one World Series game, where I saw Don Stanhouse blow game 2 in 1979. The most unique play I've ever witnessed at a ballgame was Paul Blair's 1973 inside the park grand slam against the Royals. The game was August 26 and featured Jim Palmer vs. Paul Splittorff. I was a kid, but was old enough to realize this was a pretty neat play. The Royals outfielders collided and Blair rounded the bases. The official attendance was only 15,285, but I recall the rafters feeling like they was rocking as Blair rounded third. Although Blair was in decline by this point in his career, he was a favorite especially after I witnessed that play.

"Mike will be absolutely in charge." Peter Angelos

by drj on Mar 7, 2006 10:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

A smooth and beautiful player!

After his beaning, though, his foot always headed toward third when he swung. His bat came back for a short period when we were told he was having hyponosis treatments, but he really never hit as well again.

Whenever a Baltimore fan watched any other outfielder miss a difficult chance, he would turn to the fan next to him and say, "Blair would have had it!"

The whole section would nod in agreement.

I got a foul ball off Blair's bat at an old timer's game about twenty years ago. I was taking a picture of his swing and the durned thing wizzed right past my head and clanged in the row behind me. Since only about 5,000 people or so actually came early that Sunday, it was easy to just reach back and pick it up.

My dad insisted on dragging me down to the locker room to get it signed. Paul came out and was very gratious about Dad bugging him while he was dressing.

I always thought Paul would have been a great instructor for the Orioles minor leagues, but his connection with the team over the years has been fleeting. I know he's done some college coaching and is currently involved with his own camps and with clinics for coaches.

by howie14 on Mar 8, 2006 9:53 AM EST reply actions 0 recs