Taylor was unceremoniously traded for two Minor Leaguers on June 12th, at the time hitting .234 for the Phils, for whom he’d played the previous ten seasons after coming over from the Chicago Cubs in 1960.
He performed well for Detroit the rest of the way, hitting .287 in more of a spot-start role at both second and shortstop, with 27 runs scored and 19 runs batted in over 55 games.
Taylor had a very solid 19 year career, finishing with over 2000 hits (2007), 1005 runs scored, and 234 stolen bases. I'd say 1963 was his finest year, as he hit .281 with 102 runs scored and 180 hits for the Phillies, the latter two stats being career highs.
He also made what some call the toughest play in teammate Jim Bunning's 1964 perfect game against the New York Mets.
In the fifth inning of that game, Mets catcher Jesse Gonder hit a ball between first and second base, where Taylor made a diving stop, just in time to get Gonder at first.
I nice little anecdote to it all is that years later, Bunning mentioned in an article that he and Taylor would call each other every year on the anniversary of the game, June 21st, to reminisce about the game and play.
Love hearing stuff like that.
