Bill Blair (Negro Leagues pitcher)

William "Bill" Blair (October 17, 1921 – April 20, 2014) was a Negro league pitcher.^[1]

Blair graduated 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 barnstorming 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 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.^[2]

References

• "Mr. William "Bill" Blair". Negro League Baseball. March 27, 2007. 
• Adams-Wade, Norma (May 3, 2011). "Park to be renamed for local Negro Leagues baseball icon William ‘Bill’ Blair". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved July 18, 2013. 
• Lewis, Bridget (June 1, 2012). "UT Arlington Library to Receive Historical Papers of Negro League Baseball Player, African-American Newspaper Publisher William Blair Jr." (Press release). University of Texas at Arlington. Retrieved July 18, 2013. 

External links

• Negro league baseball statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference (Negro leagues)
• Mr. William "Bill" Blair - Indianapolis Clowns