View source for Bill Blair (1940s pitcher)

{{Short description|American baseball player}}
{{For|the Bill Blair born in Pennsylvania in 1863|Bill Blair (American Association pitcher)}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
| name          = Bill Blair
| image         = Bill Blair Baseball.jpg
| team          =
| number        =
| position      = Pitcher
| bats          = Right
| throws        = Left
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1921|10|17}}
| birth_place   = [[Dallas]], [[Texas]]
| death_date    = {{death date and age|2014|4|20|1921|10|17}}
| death_place   = [[Campbell, Texas]]
| debutleague   =
| debutdate     =
| debutyear     =
| debutteam     =
| finalleague   =
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| teams         =
* [[Indianapolis Clowns]] (1948)
* [[Cincinnati Crescents]] ([[Barnstorm (sports)|Barnstorm]]ing)
}}
'''William Blair''' (October 17, 1921 – April 20, 2014) was a [[Negro league baseball|Negro league]] [[pitcher]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://coe.k-state.edu/annex/nlbemuseum/history/players/blair.html |title=Negro Leagues Baseball eMuseum: Personal Profiles: William Blair |access-date=2015-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304022717/http://coe.k-state.edu/annex/nlbemuseum/history/players/blair.html |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Blair graduated [[Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts|Booker T. Washington High School]] in Dallas and briefly attended [[Prairie View A&M University]]. He began his [[baseball]] career at the age of 16, playing for a [[barnstorm (sports)|barnstorm]]ing team in [[Mineola, Texas]], and went on to join the [[United States Army]], where he became the youngest [[African American]] to serve as a [[First Sergeant#United States Army|first sergeant]] in the Army during [[World War II]].
He pitched from 1946 to 1951, for teams including the [[Indianapolis Clowns]], [[Cincinnati Crescents]], and was a player-manager for the [[Dallas Black Giants]]. He played against players such as [[Cool Papa Bell]], [[Satchel Paige]], and [[Hilton Smith]]. After retiring from baseball, he became a fixture in the community, running a local newspaper, the ''[[Elite News]]'', and organizing golf tournaments and parades. He died in [[Campbell, Texas]] in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/dfw/news/elite-news-founder-civil-rights-activist-bill-blair-dead-at-92/|title = "Elite News" Founder, Civil Rights Activist Bill Blair Dead at 92|date = 20 April 2014}}</ref>
William Blair Park in South Dallas, formerly Rochester Park, was named after him.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
*{{cite web |url=http://theforgottenbaseballleague.blogspot.com/2007/03/mr-william-bill-blair.html |publisher=Negro League Baseball |title=Mr. William "Bill" Blair |date=March 27, 2007}}
*{{cite news |first=Norma |last=Adams-Wade |newspaper=[[The Dallas Morning News]] |title=Park to be renamed for local Negro Leagues baseball icon William 'Bill' Blair |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/norma-adams-wade/20110503-park-to-be-renamed-for-local-negro-leagues-baseball-icon-william-bill-blair.ece |date=May 3, 2011 |accessdate=July 18, 2013}}
*{{cite press release |first=Bridget |last=Lewis |publisher=[[University of Texas at Arlington]] |title=UT Arlington Library to Receive Historical Papers of Negro League Baseball Player, African-American Newspaper Publisher William Blair Jr. |url=http://www.uta.edu/news/releases/2012/06/william-blair-collection.php |date=June 1, 2012 |accessdate=July 18, 2013}}
==External links==
{{Baseballstats|br=b/blairbi02}} and [https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=blair01bil Seamheads]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Bill}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Crescents players]]
[[Category:Indianapolis Clowns players]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Dallas]]
[[Category:Baseball pitchers]]
[[Category:Prairie View A&M University alumni]]
[[Category:United States Army non-commissioned officers]]
[[Category:African Americans in World War II]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:African-American United States Army personnel]]
{{US-baseball-pitcher-1920s-stub}}
{{Negro-league-baseball-pitcher-stub}}