TRADED- 1971 TONY TAYLOR

Next up on the blog we have my 1971 traded card for long-time Major League second baseman Tony Taylor, who found himself traded to the Detroit Tigers after starting the season with the Philadelphia Phillies:

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.

CAREER-CAPPER: 1977 TONY TAYLOR

Today on the blog we have a career-capping 1977 card for former Cuban second baseman Tony Taylor, who put in 19 years in the Big Leagues between 1958 and 1976:

Taylor broke into the Majors with the Chicago Cubs at the end of the 1950’s before moving on to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1960, where he would play 15 of his years in the Big Leagues, with two years in Detroit in the early 1970’s squeezed in there.
By the time he retired in 1976, he finished with 2007 hits, 1005 runs scored and 234 stolen bases over 2195 games and 7680 at-bats, with an All-Star nod in 1960.

AIRBRUSHING THROUGH THE 1970'S- 1973 TONY TAYLOR. BUT WHY?

I posted about this card a few years ago and never got an answer to my plea: why did Topps feel the need to airbrush the cap on the 1973 Tony Taylor card?
Take a look:

Taylor was obviously suited up in Tigers gear in this image, having already played a year and a half at this point for the organization.
But why the paint-job on the logo on the cap? I understand the Tigers had the orange “D” logo in effect on the caps, but if you go through other Detroit cards in the set, it was about 50/50 between the classic white or the new orange “D”.
So why mess with the image, especially when the result was this sloppy mess?
Anyone know what happened here?
As for Taylor, he put together a very nice 19-year Major League career, collecting 2007 hits and scoring 1005 runs while swiping 234 bases, mainly for the Philadelphia Phillies for whom he played 15 seasons.

THEN AND NOW #25: TONY TAYLOR 1976

Today we celebrate the solid career of second baseman Tony Taylor with a "Super Veteran" card I designed as part of the 1976 set.

Take a look:

Taylor was closing out a nice 19-year career in 1976 after  returning for three seasons with the team he starred for between 1960 and 1971, the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Cuban garnered over 2000 hits, 1000 runs scored, and 230 stolen bases to go along with his .261 career batting average.

His best season in the big leagues would arguably be 1963, when he hit .281 with 102 runs scored, 180 hits, 20 doubles, 10 triples and five homers while getting some "M.V.P. attention" for the only time in his career (16th place) in National League voting.

Here's to you Tony...

MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 TONY TAYLOR

Here's a "missing" card of an already established veteran at the tail end of his very nice career: a 1974 Tony Taylor card.

Take a look-see:

The Cuban infielder was already a 16-year veteran of the Majors, having come up with the Chicago Cubs in 1958 and going on to star for the Philadelphia Phillies during the 1960's.

In 1971 he was traded to the Detroit Tigers, and in 1973 he played in 84 games for them, with 302 plate appearances.

He'd end up hitting .229 with 63 hits in 275 at-bats, and by season's end it did indeed seem like his career was over for the 37-year old.

I understand why Topps didn't bother including Taylor in the 1974 set, but I wanted to design a card for him anyway since I found this nice shot of him as a Tiger, and the fact that, as it turned out, he was signed by his old team, the Phillies, and managed to squeeze out three more years in the big leagues.

He'd end up retiring after the 1976 season, and allowed a young kid like myself the chance to have his last card (1976) as he was beginning a life-long obsession of collecting.

Taylor had a very solid 19 year career, finishing with over 2000 hits (2007), 1005 runs scored, and 234 stolen bases.

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 to this very day he and Taylor call each other every year on the anniversary of the game, June 21st, to reminisce.

Pretty cool if you ask me…

RANDOM QUICKIE: 1973 TONY TAYLOR (#29)

Here's a question I have for anyone that can answer: why does Tony Taylor's 1973 (#29) Topps card have his cap airbrushed?

By the time this card came out he was a member of the Tigers for over a year and a half at that point.

What makes it even more strange is that I'd swear his uniform is NOT airbrushed in any way, and it is indeed a Detroit uni.

Anyone out there know what is up with this card?

Kind of like the 1976 Fritz Peterson card I profiled a little while ago, where the image was airbrushed to death, even though it wasn't about changing his uniform or cap.

Getting back to Taylor, he was a pretty good player during his 19-year career mainly as a second baseman.

Here's a guy who very quietly accumulated over 2000+ career hits playing for the Cubs, Phillies and Tigers from 1958 to 1976.

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.

Definitely one of the more unknown 2000 hit players in the history of the game…