Taylor H. Sanford (November 11, 1908 – August 8, 1966) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head baseball coach at

Randolph–Macon College Randolph–Macon College is a private liberal arts college in Ashland, Virginia. Founded in 1830, the college has an enrollment of more than 1,500 students. It is the second-oldest Methodist-run college in the country, and the oldest in continu ...

from 1942 to 1949 and at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

from 1951 to 1955. He led the

Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball The Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball team represents Wake Forest University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The program competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). They won the 1955 College World Series. They are coached by Tom Walt ...

team to the

1955 College World Series The 1955 NCAA baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1955 NCAA baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, a double-eliminatio ...

championship.

Early life

Sanford was born to Dr. and Mrs. T. Ryland Sanford in

Hampton, Virginia Hampton () is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 137,148. It is the List ...

. He later attended

Hargrave Military Academy Hargrave Military Academy (HMA) is a private, all-male, military boarding school located in the town of Chatham, Virginia. Hargrave is affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia emphasizing Christian values that focuses on a col ...

where he was an all-state athlete in football, basketball and baseball. He then enrolled at the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

Playing career

Sanford was captain of the

Richmond Spiders The Richmond Spiders represent the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. The Spiders compete in the Division I FCS of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. The Spider na ...

football, basketball, and baseball teams, and set school records in the shot put and discus. He then played baseball professionally in the Bi-State and Piedmont leagues while also coaching prep and college teams. He ended his professional career in 1946, having never climbed higher than Class B. He was listed as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

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), ...

in 1948.Spink, J.G. Taylor, ed., ''1948 Official Baseball Guide and Record Book.'' St. Louis

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

Coaching career

Sanford began his coaching career at Hargrave, coaching for thirteen years at the prep school. He became athletic director and coach of the baseball and basketball teams at Randolph–Macon. His teams won a total of five conference championships over his seven years in

Ashland, Virginia Ashland is a town in Hanover County, Virginia, United States, located north of Richmond along Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 7,225, up from 6,619 at the 2000 census. Ashland is named after the Lexi ...

, before moving to Wake Forest as freshman football coach. In his second year at Wake Forest, he added baseball to his coaching duties while continuing in various assistant coaching roles with the football team. Most notably, the Deacs won the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

and College World Series in 1955. During 1955, the U. S. Olympic Committee asked coach Sanford to put together a team to compete in the Pan American Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Because of the time of year of the games, the team Sanford put together was mostly his Wake Forest college team. This was the first time baseball had been played in any part of Olympic competition, and the U. S. team took the silver medal. During the College World Series, a rainout forced a game on Sunday, sparking a small controversy at the Baptist school when word reached Wake Forest. This followed word that Sanford would not be kept full-time after the 1956 season and little recognition from the school of his achievement in Omaha. Sanford therefore resigned from Wake Forest on January 31, 1956, citing his "feeling of insecurity" and that he had "no assurance that I will have a job after the current season is over."

Later life and death

Sanford returned to Virginia after stepping down at Wake Forest, and served as athletic director at Fort Lee. He died on August 8, 1966, in

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Din ...

. In 1977, Sanford was inducted into the

Virginia Sports Hall of Fame The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame honors athletes, coaches, administrators, journalists and other contributors to athletics. Many of the more than 350 inductees since 1972 were born in Virginia or enjoyed success in college, professional, amateur or ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanford, Taylor 1908 births 1966 deaths American men's basketball players Baseball coaches from Virginia Baseball first basemen Baseball players from Virginia Basketball coaches from Virginia Basketball players from Virginia College men's track and field athletes in the United States Danville Leafs players Danville-Scholfield Leafs players Hargrave Military Academy alumni High school baseball coaches in the United States Mayodan Millers players Minor league baseball managers New York Yankees scouts Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets athletic directors Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets baseball coaches Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets football coaches Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets men's basketball coaches Richmond Colts players Richmond Spiders baseball players Richmond Spiders football players Richmond Spiders men's basketball players Rocky Mount Red Sox players Sportspeople from Petersburg, Virginia Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball coaches Wake Forest Demon Deacons football coaches Wilson Tobs players