Robert Lee Taylor (born March 20, 1944) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player. An

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

, Taylor played for 17 pro seasons (1962–1978), including a dozen in minor league baseball, four years in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

, and one full season in the Major Leagues with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

. Taylor batted

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subject ...

, threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, stood tall and weighed . Taylor signed with San Francisco in 1962 and played eight years in their farm system, winning the 1964 California League

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

title with a .364 average. Another productive campaign in 1969 — during which he batted .331 for the Triple-A

Phoenix Giants Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

— earned him a spot on the 1970 Giants' 40-man

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

roster. Wrote

Baseball Digest ''Baseball Digest'' is a baseball magazine resource, published in Orlando, Florida by Grandstand Publishing, LLC. It is the longest-running baseball magazine in the United States. History and profile It was created by Herbert F. Simons, a spor ...

in its annual rookie scouting report: "Seldom swings at a bad pitch.

Struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denote ...

only 25 times in 438

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

... Spray hitter with little power but ready to step into a Major League uniform right now. Should make it with Giants." The report was prescient: Taylor stayed with the Giants all season, getting into 63 games, with an even 100 plate appearances and 84 official

. Of his 16 hits, two were for extra bases, but both were

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

against the rival

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, on May 27 against José Peña, and on July 3 in a pinch hitting role against

Don Sutton Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 23 seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakla ...

,Retrosheet
/ref> a future member of the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

. Taylor returned to Phoenix in 1971 and 1972, and batted over .300 each season, giving him an opportunity to play Japanese baseball from 1973–1975. He then finished his pro career with two more seasons in the Giants' minor league system. All told, he collected 1,258 hits and batted .301 in his minor league career.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Bob 1944 births Living people Amarillo Giants players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Baseball players from Mississippi Fresno Giants players People from Leland, Mississippi Lexington Giants players Major League Baseball outfielders Phoenix Giants players Salem Rebels (baseball) players San Francisco Giants players Springfield Giants players Waterbury Giants players Chunichi Dragons players Hanshin Tigers players