Reginald Tremain "Reggie" Taylor (born January 12, 1977) is an American former professional baseball

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 c ...

. He played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, and

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home ve ...

during his five-year

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

career. He is tall and weighs . Taylor bats

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 ...

and throws

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 ...

. Taylor was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1st round (14th overall pick) of the

1995 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1995 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Background Outfielder Darin Erstad of the University of Nebraska was the first pick in the 1995 Rule 4 Draft. Erstad ...

on June 1, , and signed with the Phillies on June 13, 1995.

Early career

In , in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system, Taylor managed to hit 10

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

s. While playing winter baseball in the offseason, Taylor dislocated his shoulder. The injury required surgery and Taylor did not play winter baseball again until May of . When he returned from his injury in the 2000 baseball season, he joined the lineup of Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Two games after coming back from his injury, Taylor became the second Scranton player ever to collect 5

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

s in a game. During the season, Taylor played in 89 games and matched his career high of 15

home run 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 ...

s. The Philadelphia Phillies called Taylor up from their minor league system in September of that season.

Major League career

Taylor made his Major League debut on September 17, , at the age of 23. Taylor collected his first Major League hit on September 29, 2000. Taylor played two baseball seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. On March 28, , Taylor was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Cincinnati Reds for a player to be named later. That player was Héctor Mercado who the Cincinnati Reds traded to the Philadelphia Phillies to complete the trade on March 30, 2002. Taylor was granted

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

on December 21, , only to be signed again by Cincinnati on January 19, . On June 30, 2004, Taylor was released by the Cincinnati Reds and signed as a free agent with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

, on July 9, 2004. Taylor was again granted free agency on October 15, 2004. On December 23, 2004, Taylor signed as a free agent with the Colorado Rockies. Spending about two months with the Colorado Rockies, Taylor was traded by the Rockies to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Bobby Seay, on April 8, . Taylor was then released by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on July 20, 2005, and was signed only six days later by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, on July 26, 2005. Taylor was granted free agency once more on October 15, 2005. In , Taylor played for the

Lancaster Barnstormers The Lancaster Barnstormers (colloquially known as the Stormers) are an United States, American professional baseball team based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They are a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a ...

of the independent Atlantic League, batting .302 with 23 homers and 77 RBI. In , he played in only 15 games for the Long Island Ducks. In , Taylor played for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

' Triple-A affiliate, the Richmond Braves and

Olmecas de Tabasco The Olmecas de Tabasco (English: Tabasco Olmecs) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico. Their home ballpark is the Estadio Centenario 27 de Febrero. The Olmecas won their only Mexican L ...

of the Mexican League. He batted .353 for Olmecas de Tabasco, but only .248 for Richmond. In , he split his season between the independent

Sioux Falls Canaries The Sioux Falls Canaries are a professional baseball team based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. The Canaries are members of the North Division of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major L ...

and the Olmecas and

Dorados de Chihuahua Dorados de Chihuahua (English: Chihuahua Goldens) are a refounded baseball team from the city of Chihuahua. Recently, the Tuneros de San Luis moved to Chihuahua and took the Dorados namesake, which also brought the LMB (AAA) Mexican Baseball Le ...

of the Mexican League. On October 10, 2009, Taylor signed with the Kansas City Royals, but never played a game in their organization. He returned to the Olmecas in .

References

External links

Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Reggie 1977 births Living people Baseball players from South Carolina Major League Baseball center fielders Philadelphia Phillies players Cincinnati Reds players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players African-American baseball players Martinsville Phillies players Piedmont Boll Weevils players Clearwater Phillies players Reading Phillies players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players Louisville Bats players Charlotte Knights players Durham Bulls players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Memphis Redbirds players Richmond Braves players Lancaster Barnstormers players Long Island Ducks players Sioux Falls Canaries players Olmecas de Tabasco players Dorados de Chihuahua players Yaquis de Obregón players People from Newberry, South Carolina American expatriate baseball players in Mexico 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople Águilas del Zulia players American expatriate sportspeople in Venezuela