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Robert Dale Taylor
New York Mets
Catcher-Outfield
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
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.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #418
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
The Card / Mets Team Set
This is the first "C-Outfield" position combo card we've added to the set, and it may very well be the only instance of that position in the entire set. We've had a "C-Inf." card for Ossie Virgil (#571) but never a "C-Outfield" until now. 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. The back of the card references his five-hit game against the Colt .45s in 1962. All five of Taylor's hits were singles.
1965 Season
Taylor spent the first half of the season with the Mets, appearing in 25 games through mid-June and making only seven starts - six at catcher and one at first base. He spent the rest of the season with the Buffalo Bisons, where he hit .240 in 61 games as the team's regular catcher.
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
18 - Taylor non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/9/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #418
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
After securing Doug's Jim Thome autograph, I returned to Uncle Dick's and their neon green shirts, pulled up a chair, and settled in. Over the course of 45 minutes or so, I found 79 cards needed for our set, including this Taylor card which was a little less than $2 after the dealer discount. I was surrounded by six or seven other seated collectors, all who looked similar to me, with a touch of gray, focused on their individual quests. I wiped out Uncle Dick's two 1965 Topps commons binders, paid for my haul and then retreated to a table with Doug to update our checklist.
The Card / Mets Team Set
This is the first "C-Outfield" position combo card we've added to the set, and it may very well be the only instance of that position in the entire set. We've had a "C-Inf." card for Ossie Virgil (#571) but never a "C-Outfield" until now. 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. The back of the card references his five-hit game against the Colt .45s in 1962. All five of Taylor's hits were singles.
1965 Season
Taylor spent the first half of the season with the Mets, appearing in 25 games through mid-June and making only seven starts - six at catcher and one at first base. He spent the rest of the season with the Buffalo Bisons, where he hit .240 in 61 games as the team's regular catcher.
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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
18 - Taylor non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/9/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #328 Eddie Fisher - Chicago White Sox
Previous Card: #328 Eddie Fisher - Chicago White Sox
Next Card: #330 Whitey Ford - New York Yankees
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