#72 Ron Taylor - New York Mets

Ronald Wesley Taylor
New York Mets
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  195
Born:  December 13, 1937, Toronto, Canada
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1956 season
Major League Teams:  Cleveland Indians 1962; St. Louis Cardinals 1963-1965; Houston Astros 1965-1966; New York Mets 1967-1971; San Diego Padres 1972

World Series Appearances:  St. Louis Cardinals 1964; New York Mets 1969

As one of the more effective relievers in the game throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, Ron Taylor enjoyed an 11-year big league career, winning World Series rings with the Cardinals in 1964 and with the Mets in 1969.  As a key member of the Cardinals' bullpen in 1964, Taylor appeared in 63 games through the regular season recording eight saves with a 4.62 ERA.  He pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings in the World Series against the Yankees, recording a save in Game 4.  After a few off years in Houston, Taylor joined the Mets and appeared in at least 50 games in four straight seasons between 1967 and 1970.  He led the club in saves for three straight seasons, recording a career high 14 saves in 1968.  He made 59 regular season appearances for the Amazin' Mets in 1969, going 9-4 with a 2.72 ERA and 13 saves.  Taylor threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings against the Orioles in the World Series, saving Game 2, with the Mets winning in five games.

Taylor would pitch for a few more seasons, last appearing with the Padres in May 1972.  He compiled a 45-43 lifetime record in 491 games pitched, throwing exactly 800 innings and recording 74 saves.  Taylor earned his medical degree following his retirement as a player, and he'd serve as the team physician for the Blue Jays for three decades, including the team's World Series Championship seasons of 1992 and 1993.  Taylor was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985, and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #123
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set.  That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon.  I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.

This is the 46th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York.  My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside.  After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far.  With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298.  The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing less than a dollar.

The Card / Mets Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

Taylor wore #42 during his five seasons with the Mets.  The cartoon on the back highlights his 0.00 World Series ERA, which reflects his 4 2/3 innings of work over two games with the Cardinals in 1964.  His World Series ERA would remain unblemished (see below) in 1969.  The back of the card also mentions he led the Mets in saves in both 1967 and 1968.  He had only eight saves to lead the team in 1967, for a team that would lose 101 games.  His single season save record of 14 has been broken many, many times and the current record holder is Jeurys Familia, who saved 51 games in 2016.

Accuracy Index:  Taylor's card scores a solid five for accuracy, given the photo hasn't been used before and he's shown in a Mets uniform.

1969 Season
I summarized Taylor's successful season above, and he and Tug McGraw (#601) were easily the two most reliable relievers out of the Mets bullpen in 1969.  Taylor threw 15 consecutive scoreless innings in 12 appearances between May 30th and June 24th.  In four postseason appearances, he didn't allow a run in 10 1/3 innings, allowing just three hits and a pair of walks while striking out nine.  His strikeout victims included Frank Robinson (#250) and Brooks Robinson (#550).

1962 Topps #208

1964 Topps #183

1966 Topps #174

1970 Topps #419

1972 Topps #234

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1962 Topps #591
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11):  1962-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1981 TCMA The 1960s II #466
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  47 in the Beckett online database as of 9/11/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog

#71 Steve Whitaker - Kansas City Royals / #73 Johnny Briggs - Philadelphia Phillies