[2] One of the best defensive outfielders of his era, and "perhaps the finest" he had excellent range and was brilliant at tracking fly balls.

[6] Blair was born on February 1, 1944, in Cushing, Oklahoma but grew up in Los Angeles where he attended Manual Arts High School.

An accomplished athlete, he played basketball, baseball and ran track and was a high jumper while a student.

[3][7] Blair was originally signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent in 1961 as a shortstop, but moved himself to the outfield.

[12] In 1967, Blair established a career high .293 batting average with 11 home runs and 64 RBIs, along with an American League-leading 12 triples.

Blair was beaned by Ken Tatum in the eighth inning of a 6–1 loss to the California Angels at Anaheim Stadium on May 31, 1970.

[23] Blair's speed going back in the outfield enabled him to play shallow, and make catches à la Willie Mays.

[24] Blair was traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Elliott Maddox and Rick Bladt on January 20, 1977.

[5] The transaction was driven by general manager Gabe Paul's desire to exile Maddox from the Yankees.

[26] On June 18 of that year in a nationally televised game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, he was tangentially involved in one of the most bizarre scenes in baseball history.

Blair's walk-off RBI single to left off Rick Rhoden won Game 1 of the 1977 World Series for the Yankees.

[27] Actor Seth Gilliam played Blair in one episode of the ESPN mini-series The Bronx Is Burning.

In his 17-year career, Blair, whose nickname, "Motormouth",[3] came from his talkative nature, batted .250 with 134 home runs and 620 RBI, 1513 hits and 171 stolen bases in 1947 games played.

[5] He was also one of the top bunters in the game, recording at least 10 sacrifice hits four times in his career (1969, 1974-1976), including 17 during the 1975 season.

His career "range factor" is superior to that of hall of fame center fielders Willie Mays and Ken Griffey, Jr.[3] Palmer loved having Blair in the outfield because of his fielding ability.

In 1989, he played for the Gold Coast Suns in the newly formed Senior Professional Baseball Association, though the league folded after the season.

His son Paul Blair III played eight years in the minors for the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs.

On December 26, 2013, Blair suffered a heart attack and lost consciousness while playing in a celebrity bowling tournament in Pikesville, Maryland.