Doug Bair did his job in major leagues over 15 seasons

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Doug Bair 1990 Score Pittsburgh Pirates baseball card

As the St. Louis Cardinals made their run to the 1982 World Series title, Manager Whitey Herzog looked to his reliever Doug Bair, calling him "kind of an unsung hero here," The Dayton Journal Herald wrote.

Bair had went 5-3, with eight saves and a 2.55 ERA for the Cardinals that year, his seventh major league season.

"I feel good about being here because of one thing - because I've contributed to the ball club," Bair told The Journal Herald. "I did a job and I did it well."

Bair ultimately did his job in the majors over 15 total campaigns. He helped win two titles, including in 1984 with the Tigers. He then didn't throw his last major league pitch until age 40 and even tried to return at 41.

Bair's career began in 1971, taken by the Pirates in the second round of the draft out of Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

He started with the Pirates at single-A Salem and AA Waterbury. He made AAA Charleston briefly in 1972. He then finally debuted in Pittsburgh in 1976.

He saw four outings with the Pirates that first year, then moved to the Athletics for 45 relief outings in 1977. Bair arrived with he Reds for 1978 and went 7-6, with a 1.97 ERA in 70 relief appearances. He also saved eight.

Bair soon earned a reputation for running to the mound when called in, something Reds manager Sparky Anderson commented on to The Dayton Daily News in June 1978.

"Usually, I take the ball from the previous pitcher and Bair is already approaching the mound," Anderson told The Daily News. "I like that. I wish all relief pitchers would sprint from the bullpen. ... Bair shows some life."

Bair moved to the Cardinals in mid-1981, then, after the Cardinals' championship, to the Tigers in mid-1983.

Bair went 5-3 for the Tigers in 1984 in 47 outings, one start. He ended with a 3.75 ERA and another title.

Bair returned to the Cardinals mid-1985, then the Athletics in 1986. He played with the Phillies in 1987 and Blue Jays in 1988. He then returned to the Pirates in 1989, where he saw 44 games. 

He pitched in 22 final games with the Pirates in 1990. He also saw 29 outings at AAA Buffalo that year. 

"I really never thought about retiring," Bair told UPI as he tried to make the Pirates for 1991. "I'll know when it's time. I don't like the phrase 'hanging on' and never have. I'm not going to go out there and embarrass myself."

He finished out his career at AAA with the Tigers, Blue Jays and Angels, last playing in 1992 at Edmonton at the age of 42.

Bair later briefly coached in the minors, at single-A Dayton for the Reds, from 2006 to 2008.

Doug Bair 1990 Score Pittsburgh Pirates baseball card


1990 Minor League Tally 
Players/Coaches Featured:4,492
Made the Majors:1,427-31.8%-X
Never Made Majors:3,065-68.2%
5+ Seasons in the Majors:578-X
10+ Seasons in the Minors:357

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