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Carl Means Taylor
Pittsburgh Pirates
Catcher
Born: January 20, 1944, Sarasota, FL
Signed: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent before 1962 season
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1968-69; St. Louis Cardinals 1970; Kansas City Royals 1971; Pittsburgh Pirates 1971; Kansas City Royals 1972-73
Carl Taylor was a super utility player, spending parts of six seasons in the majors. He appeared in career-high 104 games in each of the 1969 season with the Pirates and the 1970 season with the Cardinals, earning playing time behind the plate, at first base and both corner outfield positions. Taylor was a frequently used pinch-hitter and for his career he batted .293 with 39 pinch-hits. Most of his career was spent with the Pirates and Royals, with the Pirates re-acquiring him for the 1971 stretch run before selling him back to the Royals following the World Series. Taylor was a member of that 1971 World Series Pirates team, although he was ineligible for the postseason given he was acquired after September 1st.
Taylor finished up his big league career with two full seasons in Kansas City, catching in a career-high 63 games in 1973 as a back-up to Fran Healy. In 411 major league games, Taylor batted .266 with 10 home runs and 115 RBIs. He's the stepbrother of former Orioles' great Boog Powell (#15).
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times. I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.
Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders. I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500. This card was the 43rd of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me little less than $1.
The Card / Pirates Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
That looks to be #10 on the front of Taylor's jersey, but according to Baseball Reference, he wore #36 and #44 during his first stint with the Pirates. Topps lists Taylor's position as catcher, which makes sense since he caught in 29 games in 1968. But in 1969, he played defense 59 times, not once behind the plate. Taylor wouldn't catch again until the 1972 season with the Royals. The cartoon on the back features a cameo by Powell, who I'm assuming is the slightly larger cartoon player.
Accuracy Index: Taylor's card scores a +5 for accuracy.
1969 Season
Taylor had his best season in the majors, batting .348 in 104 games with 10 doubles, four home runs and 33 RBIs. He received starts from manager Larry Shepard (#384) at first base (21), left field and right field (15 each). He batted a gaudy .415 (17 for 41) as a pinch-hitter, with a double and six RBIs.
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First Mainstream Card: 1968 Topps #559
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1968-71, 1973-74
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1990 Pacific Senior League #160
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 24 in the Beckett online database as of 7/5/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
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