Paul Blair is fast becoming one of my favorite people in baseball. Why’s that? First off, he’s a former Yankee who was a supplementary part of two world championship clubs in the 1970s. Second, with apologies to Devon White and Ken Griffey, Jr., he’s the best defensive center fielder I’ve seen over the past 40 years. And finally, he is one of those former major leaguers who is making a habit of coming to Cooperstown, a fact that is especially appreciated during the pre-season days of March.

Blair paid his most recent visit to Cooperstown last Saturday, as part of the effort to promote the second annual Hall of Fame Classic old-timers game. Blair, who will be playing in that game on Father’s Day along with former big league standouts like Bill Madlock and Lee Smith, greeted a number of fans as they waited in line to purchase tickets for the event. Acting as a personal greeter is an ideal job for Blair, who was nicknamed “Motormouth” during his playing days because of his willingness to talk to anyone–at any time.

Born in Oklahoma but raised in Los Angeles, Blair started playing baseball at the age of eight and developed an early appreciation for Jackie Robinson. “Jackie was the hero, the man who broke the barrier,“ Blair told the audience in the Hall’s Bullpen Theater. “He gave you a sense of hope.“

Blair had originally hoped to sign with the Dodgers in 1961, but instead settled for a contract with the expansion Mets. He played poorly in his first season, batting .228 in the California League while piling up 147 strikeouts at a time when K’s were far less tolerated than they are today. Left unprotected by the Mets–a decision that the New York brass would come to regret–Blair was drafted by the Orioles that winter. He went back to the California League, batted a cool .324, slugged .506, and began a steady climb through the Baltimore system.

It was during his minor league days that Blair picked up his memorable nickname. A recent slump had quieted the usually talkative Blair. After he broke out of the slump with a hit, a teammate needled him, asking if he would start talking again. The team’s manager, Harry Dalton, gave the players a quizzical look before saying, “Don’t get that Motor started.”

With the Orioles on the verge of championship greatness, Blair’s arrival in the major leagues timed out perfectly. He arrived in time to contribute to the 1966 world championship team and remained with the organization through its run of three consecutive World Series appearances, including the title year of 1970. So which of those Orioles teams was the best? “If I have to pick one, the ‘66 team was the best team,” Blair said before elaborating. “But I’m most proud of the 1970 team, which bounced back after losing to the Mets the previous fall. [In 1970], we won 108 games. We turned the ‘Big Red Machine’ into the ‘Little Toy Wagon.’ I was proud of that team because we came back from the loss to the Mets.”

After losing to the Pirates in the 1971 World Series, the Orioles failed to return to the Fall Classic for Blair’s final five seasons in Baltimore. Once again, the timing turned out swimmingly for Blair. During the winter of 1976-77, the Orioles dealt Blair to the Yankees. Although no longer an everyday player, in part because of a tendency to bail out against right-handed pitching as the result of an ugly beaning in 1970, Blair became a useful backup on two world championship teams in the Bronx.

In spite of the chaos that ensued during the Bronx Zoo years, Blair loved every minute of playing for a team that included homegrown players like Thurman Munson and Ron Guidry, buttressed by free agent pickups like Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter. “The Yankees were totally different from the Orioles, who basically had the same group of players together for years. 1977 and 1978 were special. Everyone should have an opportunity to play in New York for a championship team. Totally unreal.”

More than any other moment, Blair is most remembered for being an innocent bystander in the brouhaha that developed between Jackson and Billy Martin at Fenway Park in 1977. After Jackson apparently failed to run hard in pursuit of a lazy fly ball by Jim Rice, Martin pulled him from right field, replacing him with Blair. So why did Martin react so extremely? “It’s what Reggie didn’t do,” said Blair. “Not only does Reggie not catch the ball, but Rice gets a double, and he’s not the fastest man in the world. Billy figured he was going to make an example of Reggie because he didn’t hustle.” As Blair saw it, it was fairly evident that Jackson did not give his best effort in trying to play Rice’s fly ball.

While in New York, Blair developed an appreciation for the third major figure in the team’s carnival–Boss Steinbrenner. “There are a lot of misconceptions about George,” Blair said without hesitation. “He is one of the better owners. He put all of his money back into the team. His only concern was winning. I know some people will disagree with this, but George IS the New York Yankees.”

Blair’s endorsement of Steinbrenner comes despite the fact that he has never worked for the organization since his retirement in 1980. The Yankees, or someone else for that matter, could surely benefit from Blair’s ability to teach defense to young outfielders. What outfielder couldn’t benefit from a man who could teach him to play shallow, read the ball off the bat properly, and run good, quick routes? But Blair has never really wanted to coach; his interest has always involved managing. “I coached in Rochester in 1990,” Blair said, recalling his brief stint with the top affiliate in the Orioles’ organization. “But I really wanted to manage, and they wanted me to come back for another season and help out the manager.”

Blair rejected the offer, something that he remembers without regret. “I really wanted to manage. To be a manager, you have to hobnob and lobby for a position. I’m not like that.”

As an old school baseball man, Blair might also lack the proper temperament for today’s player. “Players today make so much money that if they don’t respect the manager, they don’t listen. There are few managers that get that respect today.” Blair counts former Yankee skipper Joe Torre as one of the few managers to fall into that category.

At this point, Blair will almost certainly not join Torre as a manager; the window for such an opportunity in the major leagues has closed. Still, Blair harbors no bitterness. He enjoys his life, which includes repeated rounds of golf, frequent autograph signings, and, of course, that upcoming appearance in the Hall of Fame Classic. For Paul Blair, that’s a pretty good life to have.

Bruce Markusen writes “Cooperstown Confidential” for The Hardball Times.