UA Fort Smith Athletics

            Robert “Bob” Blaylock was once described as “the most outstanding baseball product developed in the area”, but he was a star on the hardwood as well for the Fort Smith Junior College Lions.
            Blaylock enrolled at Fort Smith Junior College in the fall of 1954 and played basketball for two seasons (1954-56) for coach Jimmy Charles.
            Even though he stood only 6-foot-1, Blaylock was forced to play center for the Lions. Still, Blaylock, who could dunk a basketball from a standing start, led the team in rebounding and was among the Lions’ top scorers. As a sophomore, he was named Most Athletic by the student body and was elected to the Sophomore Council.
            As savvy as Blaylock was on the hardwood, he was a natural-born star on the diamond, even though Fort Smith Junior College didn’t field a baseball team at that time.
            The right-handed pitcher was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals on June 2, 1953, after graduating high school. Blaylock caught the scouts’ attention after pitching four no-hitters, two one-hitters and one two-hitter as a senior at Muldrow (Okla.) High School. He received offers from 10 Major League teams and received the maximum signing bonus of $3,000 from the Cardinals.
            Blaylock played baseball in the summer while playing basketball for Fort Smith Junior College during the fall. The summer after his sophomore year, the 21-year-old made his Major League debut with the Cardinals on July 22, 1956, as a mid-season call-up from the Rochester Red Wings, which was St. Louis’ AAA minor league affiliate in the International League.
            He finished the season with St. Louis with a 1-6 record and returned to AAA until 1959, when he was recalled to St. Louis. He went 0-1 and was sent back down to the minor leagues, where he spent the remainder of his professional baseball career.
            After retiring from baseball, Blaylock had a successful career in business as a hotel and restaurant owner.