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, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|4|20|1921|10|17}}

| death_place = Campbell, Texas, U.S.

| debutleague =

| debutdate =

| debutyear =

| debutteam =

| finalleague =

| finaldate =

| finalyear =

| finalteam =

| teams =

• Indianapolis Clowns (1948)
• Cincinnati Crescents (Barnstorming)

}}

William Blair (October 17, 1921 – April 20, 2014) was an American Negro league pitcher.{{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 }}

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.{{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}}

William Blair Park in South Dallas, formerly Rochester Park, was named after him.