#568 Ron Taylor - St. Louis Cardinals

Ronald Wesley Taylor
St. Louis Cardinals
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

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.

Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #537

This is the 53rd of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March.  We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room.  Having wandered aimlessly among the dealer tables looking for binders with vintage commons, I decided to check to see if Uncle Dick's had refreshed their inventory following the December show, during which I had wiped out both their 1965 Topps binders.  Much to my pleasant surprise, they had.  

This Taylor card was $6 and was one of 49 commons and semi-stars purchased in my triumphant return to Uncle Dick's and his replenished neon green binders.

Depending on my ability to compose five posts a week on the cards acquired at this show, I should be completely caught up on this blog by mid-October.  It's entirely feasible we complete our 1965 Topps set by the end of 2022, although nine of the remaining 12 cards needed are fairly expensive.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set
Taylor is sporting the warm-up jacket under the jersey look here, which was a popular fashion statement at the time.  The cartoon highlight on the back is for the save he "chalked up" in the 1964 World Series.  No other Cardinals' reliever was close to Taylor's 63 appearances in 1964.  Coming in a distant second and third place in that category were Bob Humphreys (#154) with 28 relief appearances and Barney Schultz (#28) with 30.  Taylor lost both of his starts, going 6 2/3 innings agains the Colt .45s on August 8th and four innings against the Braves on September 16th.

1965 Season
Taylor and his Cardinals team struggled to start the 1965 season following their World Series victory.  He appeared in 25 games for the Cardinals, going 2-1 with a 4.53 ERA and just one save.  With the team in seventh place, Taylor and Mike Cuellar (#337) were traded to the Astros for Chuck Taylor and Hal Woodeshick (#179).  His struggles continued in Houston, as his ERA ballooned to 6.40 in 32 appearances.  For the season, Taylor was 3-6 with a 5.60 ERA in 57 games pitched, recording five saves.  

1962 Topps #208

1964 Topps #183

1966 Topps #174

1969 Topps #72

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

47 - Taylor non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/28/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #567 Tommie Aaron - Milwaukee Braves

Next Card:  #569 Gino Cimoli - Los Angeles Angels