Willie Blair
William Allen Blair is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball and current pitching coach for the West Michigan Whitecaps.Playing career
Blair played baseball for Morehead State University before the Toronto Blue Jays drafted him in the 11th round of the 1986 amateur draft. He spent four seasons in the Blue Jays minor league system, playing for the St. Catharines Blue Jays, the Dunedin Blue Jays, the Knoxville Smokies, and the Syracuse Chiefs.
Blair made his major league debut with the Blue Jays on April 11, 1990 and spent the season with the major league squad. He was traded in the offseason to the Cleveland Indians for Alex Sanchez, and played in 11 games for the Indians that year. Blair was then traded to the Houston Astros with Eddie Taubensee for Kenny Lofton and Dave Rohde. After a season with Houston, he was picked up by the Colorado Rockies in their expansion draft. After the Rockies, he played for the San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and New York Mets.
His best year was 1997, in which he had 16–8 record and an earned run average of 4.17. In 1999, Blair was the starting pitcher for the final Opening Day in Tiger Stadium history.Coaching career
He was the pitching coach for the Fort Wayne TinCaps for the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and on December 11, 2012, he was named bullpen coach of the San Diego Padres, replacing Jimmy Jones.
On December 2, 2015, Blair was named the pitching coach for the Double-A Erie SeaWolves. He was transferred to the Single-A Whitecaps in December 2018.
Blair currently lives in Richmond, Kentucky.
