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Robert Dale Taylor
Kansas City Royals
Catcher
Born: April 3, 1939, Metropolis, IL
Signed: Signed by the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent, June 1, 1957
Major League Teams: Milwaukee Braves 1957-1958, 1961-1963; New York Mets 1964-1967; California Angels 1967; Kansas City Royals 1969-1970
World Series Appearances: XX
Died: June 9, 2012, Paducah, KY (age 73)
Hawk Taylor earned his nickname at a young age as his favorite movie serial was "Hawk of the Wilderness" while growing up in rural Illinois. Signed to a record bonus baby contract of $119,000 in 1957, Taylor was forced to remain on the Braves roster for two seasons. He rarely saw any playing time, getting into only 11 games over those two seasons. After some seasoning in the minors, Taylor returned to the Braves in 1961 and he'd spend parts of three seasons as a pinch-hitter and occasional outfielder. He'd get his chance for regular major league playing time in 1964 after the Braves sold his contract to the Mets. Taylor was the relatively new team's opening day catcher in 1964, and he'd ultimately appear in 92 games - a career high. Taylor also set career highs in 1964 with 54 hits, 20 runs scored, eight doubles, four home runs and 23 RBIs. He was never an everyday player, although he did hit the first pinch-hit grand slam in Mets' franchise history on August 17, 1966.
Died: June 9, 2012, Paducah, KY (age 73)
Hawk Taylor earned his nickname at a young age as his favorite movie serial was "Hawk of the Wilderness" while growing up in rural Illinois. Signed to a record bonus baby contract of $119,000 in 1957, Taylor was forced to remain on the Braves roster for two seasons. He rarely saw any playing time, getting into only 11 games over those two seasons. After some seasoning in the minors, Taylor returned to the Braves in 1961 and he'd spend parts of three seasons as a pinch-hitter and occasional outfielder. He'd get his chance for regular major league playing time in 1964 after the Braves sold his contract to the Mets. Taylor was the relatively new team's opening day catcher in 1964, and he'd ultimately appear in 92 games - a career high. Taylor also set career highs in 1964 with 54 hits, 20 runs scored, eight doubles, four home runs and 23 RBIs. He was never an everyday player, although he did hit the first pinch-hit grand slam in Mets' franchise history on August 17, 1966.
After a brief stint with the Angels in 1967, Taylor was selected by the expansion Royals in the 1968 rule 5 draft. He appeared in 121 games for the Royals in their first two seasons, serving as a pinch-hitter and back-up catcher or outfielder. Taylor retired after a brief tenure in the Red Sox organization in 1971. He batted .218 over 11 seasons in the majors, appearing in 394 games. Taylor had 16 home runs 82 career RBIs.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #234
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Royals Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
1969 Season
Taylor spent all season with the Royals, appearing in 64 games but making only nine starts - seven in right field and two at catcher. As a pinch-hitter, Taylor batted .265 (13 for 49) with a home run and nine RBIs. His pinch-hit home run came on May 6th against the Tigers. A three-run shot in the ninth inning, it would ultimately give the Royals a come-from-behind, 7-6 win in Detroit.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1958 Topps #164
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1958, 1961-1965, 1968-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #239
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 19 in the Beckett online database as of 2/11/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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 157th 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 me $1.25.
The Card / Royals Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Topps couldn't settle on what to call Taylor on his cards. He's Bob in 1958, 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1969. He's Hawk in 1965 and 1968. And then in 1961, Topps went all in with Bob "Hawk" Taylor. This is his last appearance in a Topps flagship set, and he's wearing a Mets jersey, likely from all the way back in 1964. The write-up on the back was somewhat off, as while Taylor was with the Royals all season (see below) his playing time was sporadic. Listed as a catcher on this card, he caught in six games for the Royals in 1969, spanning 25 innings behind the plate.
Accuracy Index: The Mets jersey (-5) and lack of a hat (-3) drop Taylor's card to a -8.
1969 Season
Taylor spent all season with the Royals, appearing in 64 games but making only nine starts - seven in right field and two at catcher. As a pinch-hitter, Taylor batted .265 (13 for 49) with a home run and nine RBIs. His pinch-hit home run came on May 6th against the Tigers. A three-run shot in the ninth inning, it would ultimately give the Royals a come-from-behind, 7-6 win in Detroit.
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First Mainstream Card: 1958 Topps #164
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1958, 1961-1965, 1968-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #239
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 19 in the Beckett online database as of 2/11/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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