100 Greatest Phillies: 87 – Tony Taylor

Tony Taylor
Infielder
1960-1971, 1974-1976

Career w/Phillies: .260 AVG / 51 HR / 461 RBI / 169 SB

For 15 seasons, Taylor suited up for the Phils. He wore pinstripes and powder blues. Amassing 100 hits 10 times as a Phillie, Taylor finished his career with 1,511 hits for the home team. However, Taylor only reached .280 three times in his Phillie career. A noted base stealer, he stole 20 or more bases four times as a Phil, and also hit his share of doubles and triples. The regular second baseman during the 1960s, Taylor left for Detroit, before returning in 1974 as a utility man.

Comment: A lot like Granny Hamner, Taylor was a mediocre-hitting middle infielder who seems to get a lot of respected love today. He played for a couple lousy teams in the 1960s at a bunch of different positions. A fixture in Phillie lore.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.