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Paul L.D. Blair
Baltimore Orioles
Outfield
Born: February 1, 1944, Cushing, OK
Signed: Signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent, July 20, 1961
Major League Teams: Baltimore Orioles 1964-76; New York Yankees 1977-79; Cincinnati Reds 1979; New York Yankees 1980
World Series Appearances: Baltimore Orioles 1966, 1969-71; New York Yankees 1977-78
Died: December 26, 2013, Baltimore, MD (age 69)
Paul Blair was an eight-time Gold Glove winner and was the regular center fielder for the Orioles dynasty that won four American League pennants and two World Series between 1966 and 1971. Blair played a key role in the Orioles' 1966 World Series victory, hitting the game-winning home run in Game 3 and robbing the Dodgers' Jim Lefebvre (#140) of a home run in Game 4 that would have tied the game. He led the league in triples with 12 in 1967. Blair's excellent range in the outfield led to his Gold Glove honors, including seven in a row between 1969 and 1975. His best season was perhaps 1969 when he made his first All-Star team and batted .285 with 26 home runs and 76 RBIs - both career highs.
Died: December 26, 2013, Baltimore, MD (age 69)
Paul Blair was an eight-time Gold Glove winner and was the regular center fielder for the Orioles dynasty that won four American League pennants and two World Series between 1966 and 1971. Blair played a key role in the Orioles' 1966 World Series victory, hitting the game-winning home run in Game 3 and robbing the Dodgers' Jim Lefebvre (#140) of a home run in Game 4 that would have tied the game. He led the league in triples with 12 in 1967. Blair's excellent range in the outfield led to his Gold Glove honors, including seven in a row between 1969 and 1975. His best season was perhaps 1969 when he made his first All-Star team and batted .285 with 26 home runs and 76 RBIs - both career highs.
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| 1967 Topps #153 |
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
The Card / Orioles Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
As mentioned above, this was Blair's career year. As the regular center fielder for the pennant-winning Orioles, Blair set career bests in home runs and RBIs. His 7.1 bWAR was second on the team to only Frank Robinson (#250), who had a 7.5 mark. Blair's 20 stolen bases led the Orioles. He was third in the league in hits (178), fourth in doubles (32), second in outfield assists (12), and led the league with 13 sacrifice bunts. Blair easily handled Twins' pitching in the ALCS, batting .400 (6 for 15) but slumped in the World Series against the Mets with only a pair of hits in 20 at-bats.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #473
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17): 1965-80
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2013 Topps Archives #224
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 163 in the Beckett online database as of 12/31/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Building the Set / Card #448
December 15, 2024 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
On Sunday, December 15th, Doug and I attended the latest Philly Show, spaciously spread out inside Hall A of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. I wrote a full show report over at The Phillies Room, including some thoughts on attending the show with our oldest son, who first graced the Philly Show floors back in 2012.
December 15, 2024 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
On Sunday, December 15th, Doug and I attended the latest Philly Show, spaciously spread out inside Hall A of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. I wrote a full show report over at The Phillies Room, including some thoughts on attending the show with our oldest son, who first graced the Philly Show floors back in 2012.
Having had success the prior two shows at Uncle Dick's Cards with his well-organized, neon common binders, I opted to pull up a chair once again at the friendly dealer's array of tables. The aim was simple: Clear out Uncle Dick's 1969 Topps commons, starting off where I had left off the year before with card #501 and going through the end of the set, card #664. In less than 25 minutes, I completed my quest, and this is the fourth of 98 commons pulled from the binder. After a generous dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, this card was a little over a dollar.
The Card / Orioles Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Blair wore #6 with the Orioles between 1965 and 1976. The cartoon on the back of the card highlights his game-winning home run against the Dodgers in 1966 World Series Game 3, and Topps had previously spotlighted this event with a card in its 1967 flagship set's World Series subset. The write-up refers to Blair's struggles in 1968, in which he batted just .211 in the Year of the Pitcher. Topps reprinted this card in its 2002 Topps Archives set.
Accuracy Index: Blair's card scores a +5, a mark becoming much more prevalent in these higher series cards.
1969 Season
As mentioned above, this was Blair's career year. As the regular center fielder for the pennant-winning Orioles, Blair set career bests in home runs and RBIs. His 7.1 bWAR was second on the team to only Frank Robinson (#250), who had a 7.5 mark. Blair's 20 stolen bases led the Orioles. He was third in the league in hits (178), fourth in doubles (32), second in outfield assists (12), and led the league with 13 sacrifice bunts. Blair easily handled Twins' pitching in the ALCS, batting .400 (6 for 15) but slumped in the World Series against the Mets with only a pair of hits in 20 at-bats.
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First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #473
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17): 1965-80
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2013 Topps Archives #224
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 163 in the Beckett online database as of 12/31/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#505 Bobby Bolin - San Francisco Giants / #507 Cookie Rojas - Philadelphia Phillies
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