Skip to main content

Sunday School: History Lesson 47

Tony Taylor played with the Phillies from 1960-1971, then again from 1974-1976. Originally signed by the Giants, Taylor was selected by the Cubs in the Rule 5 draft during the 1957-1958 offseason. Taylor made his Major League debut with the Cubs in 1958 and played two full season with Chicago before being traded to the Phillies along with Cal Neeman for Ed Bouchee and Don Cardwell in May 1960.

Taylor responded to the trade by batting .287 and stealing 24 bases in 127 games in his first season with the Phillies. He also made the all star team that year. In his time with the Phillies, Taylor would steal over 20 bases in a season four times and he stole home six times.

Taylor is the only man to play over 1,000 games at second base with the Phillies. Taylor spent his first five seasons with Philadelphia as the team's everyday second baseman, but came to fill more of a utility role when a young second baseman named Cookie Rojas made an impact with the team. Taylor's versatility was a plus and enabled him to continue contributing for the Phils. He filled in all around the infield and even spent some time in the outfield. In 1966, Taylor filled in at third for two months when Dick Allen was injured, and the following year he took over for first baseman Bill White when he was sidelined with an injury.

The best season of Taylor's career would come in 1970, when he had career highs in homers and RBI with 9 and 55. He also batted .301 that year. Despite the increased production, though, it would be Taylor's last season as an everyday player in the Majors.

In June 1971, the Phillies dealt Taylor to Detroit for two minor leaguers. The Tigers later released Taylor after the 1973 season and he returned to Philadelphia for three more seasons, where he would act as the team's primary pinch hitter. His 17 pinch hits in 1974 led the National League.

After retiring from playing, Taylor would go on to coach with the Phillies and later the Marlins. Taylor was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2002.

-----------------------------------

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE for cool info, stats and updates!
BallHype: hype it up!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...