Philadelphia Phillies: 50 greatest players of all-time
6. . 2B. 1960-71, 1974-76. Tony Taylor. 40. player
A member of the Phillies Wall of Fame, Tony Taylor is considered to be one of the great second basemen in Phillies history.
Born in Cuba, Taylor signed with the San Francisco Giants as a teenager and was traded by the Chicago Cubs with Cal Neeman to Philadelphia for Ed Bouchee and Don Cardwell during the 1960 season.
An all-star in his first season with the Phillies, Taylor hit .287 in 127 games. That season began Taylor’s 12-year reign at second base in Philadelphia.
While Taylor’s numbers were never overly impressive and he never made another all-star game, he became a fan favorite in the 1960s.
One of Taylor’s best seasons came in 1963 when he finished 16th in the National League MVP race. In 157 games, he had a career-high 180 hits, .281 average, 10 triples and a 102 OPS.
On Father’s Day in 1964, Taylor made a play in the field that saved Jim Bunning’s perfect game, the first in Phillies history.
Despite Taylor being a fan favorite, the Phillies traded him to the Detroit Tigers in June 1971 for minor leaguers Carl Cavanaugh and Michael Fremuth, neither of whom ever played in the big leagues.
Taylor returned to Philadelphia as a free agent in the winter of 1973 and became Phillies’ the all-time leader in games played at second base with 1,006. Chase Utley went on to crush Taylor’s record with over 1,400 games at second base.
Taylor’s career ended with 1,669 games played for the Phillies, fifth-most all-time by a hitter, with a .261 batting average, 1,511 hits and 219 doubles.
Taylor ranks in the top-10 in Phillies history for games played, singles, at-bats, plate appearances and outs made after parts of 15 seasons in Philadelphia.