Robert “Hawk” Taylor’s career spanned 11 years, two leagues and four teams so he must have been doing something right. However, hitting for average and staying out of the double play wasn’t it.
Taylor’s 1966 season for the Mets was probably pretty typical for him though he did hit for average in other years. Other than his 1964 season, it was his busiest with 53 games and 113 plate appearances. He hit .174 with two doubles and three homers in 109 at-bats. He also grounded into six double plays.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 Totals | 53 | 20 | 113 | 109 | 5 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 19 | .174 | .204 | .275 |
Hawk has sixteen ones in the second column (including a 61-1) if you can get to it. He only has two zeros. Other than that, he has no hit numbers past 15. He’s got an ugly 25-21 which means APBA put a 22 at 53.
There are a total of six 24s on Taylor’s card including a 21-24 and a 23-24. He’s slow and his fielding ratings are pretty dismal (C-6, OF-1).
Ugly Numbers: 25-21, 31-36, 51-38
Taylor may not have been an All-Star but he’s a fellow Illinoisan who made the bigs. He’s from Metropolis and played for the Salukis of Southern Illinois (big non-conference rivals of the Illini, by the way). It turns out he had a scholarship to Illinois anyway.
This SABR article has a pretty in depth article on Taylor which I found entertaining especially this section on the news of Taylor’s signing…
Because of his instant riches, Taylor became an instant celebrity. The Metropolis News carried banner headlines, lengthy articles, and congratulations from well-wishing merchants and organizations, and predicted that there would eventually be such things as an annual Hawk Taylor Day, a Hawk Taylor Street, and Hawk Taylor sodas, and wrote, “He’s had six marriage proposals and a guy from New York wants to sell him a $125,000 hunting and fishing lodge.” Vance Taylor told the Milwaukee Journal that spreading the bonus over five years saved $18,000 in taxes.
Nice to read an article about the non-“stars” once in a while. Gives us perspective.
