All-Time Marlins: January 27th Birthdays

There’s only two players affiliated with the Marlins’ in franchise history who are celebrating birthdays on January 27th.

Andy Bair (41)

Wayne Andrew Bair was a 6’5”, 255 lb. left-handed pitcher from Baltimore, Maryland. While pitching at Calvert Hall HS for his senior season, he went 9-0 with a 0.11 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 63 innings.

Without question, Andy is the best kid I’ve ever had - Calverty Hall Varsity Coach Joe Binder (335-94)

Bair finished his high school career 22-0, with seven no-hitters and a perfect game. He also hit .427 with six homers and 26 RBI as a senior. (h/t to the Baltimore Sun). Widely regarded as a top 40 prospect nationwide, for some reason he lasted until the 68th round in 1995, where the Marlins chose him with the 1,593rd pick. On being taken so late, Bair blamed himself:

I feel like I did something wrong, I don’t know what it is, but something. I let down some of my supporters. It hurts mentally, but now I’m getting over it. - Bair

Post-draft, Bair joined the GCL Marlins and started six games. He went 2-2 with a 2.96 ERA, 22 strikeouts in 24 ¹⁄₃ innings, and a 1.15 WHIP to close out the 1995 campaign. After a year out of action, he spent 1997 with the Utica Blue Sox, and went 1-6 in 12 starts, with a 6.32 ERA, 32 K’s in 52 ²⁄₃ frames, and a 1.35 WHIP. Moved to the bullpen in 1998, he got into 14 games for Utica out of the pen, and went 1-2 with a 5.28 ERA, a dozen K’s in 15 ¹⁄₃ innings, and a 1.57 WHIP.

After the Marlins let Bair go following 1998, he joined the Aberdeen Arsenal in the independent Atlantic League in 2000. In 16 rotational starts, he totaled a 2-4 record and a 5.77 ERA.

Chris Gorrell (42)

Christopher Todd Gorrell was a 6’2”, 188 lb. right-handed pitcher from Boston, Massachusetts. The Marlins took him in the 55th round of the 1994 draft with the 1,441st selection off the board, but he did not sign with the club.

Gorrell joined the Oakland Athletics organization in 1996, and spent four seasons rising from the AZL A’s through the Southern Oregon Lumberjacks, the Visalia Oaks, and eventually to the Midland RockHounds. In 108 minor league appearances, he put up a 15-13 record with a 5.44 ERA, 217 strikeouts in 243 innings, and a 1.63 WHIP.