Philip Wiley Taylor (March 18, 1888 – July 8, 1954) 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

and law enforcement officer. He played professional baseball from 1911 to 1917 and in 1923, including four seasons in

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), ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1911),

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 p ...

(1912), and

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

(1913–1914). He appeared in 27 games (17 as a starter) and compiled a 2–10 with an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) of 4.10 over 120-2/3 innings. He served as the sheriff of

Pottawatomie County, Kansas Pottawatomie County (standard abbreviation: PT) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 25,348. The county seat is Westmoreland. The county takes its name from the Potawatomi tribe of ...

Early years

Taylor was born in 1888 in Wamego, Kansas.

Professional baseball player

Taylor began playing professional baseball for the Ellsworth team in the

Central Kansas League The Central Kansas League was a Class D level baseball league established in 1908, playing through 1912. Member teams were based exclusively in Kansas. The Central Kansas League evolved from and into the Kansas State League. History The original ...

. He advanced to the Austin Senators of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in 1911, appearing in 37 games and compiling a 22–14 record with 311 innings pitched. He helped lead Austin to the 1911 Texas League pennant. ''The Houston Post'' picked him for its All-Texas team and noted: "Taylor of Austin is credited by the league batsmen as being the best of them all with the actual possession of the stuff on the ball. He was seldom bumped hard and was almost always a remarkably effective pitcher. Taylor has a varied assortment of curves and excellent control." After an impressive season in Austin, Taylor was purchased by the

. He made his major league debut on September 6, 1911. He appeared in three games for Detroit, two as a starter, and compiled a 0–2 record with a 3.79 ERA in 19 innings pitched. Taylor was returned by Detroit to Austin in the spring of 1912. He appeared in 35 games for Austin, compiling an 11–16 record. In August 1912, he was purchased from Austin by the

. He appeared in three games for Chicago, all as a starter, and compiled a 0–1 record with a 4.95 ERA in 20 innings pitched. Taylor again returned to Austin at the start of the 1913 season. He appeared in 40 games for Austin and compiled an 18–17 record in a career-high 356 innings pitched. After another season as Austin's premier pitcher, he was released to the

at the end of August in exchange for a payment of $1,500. Taylor appeared in five games for the Browns in the final month of the season, four of them as a starter. He compiled a 0–2 record with a 4.83 ERA in 31-2/3 innings pitched. Taylor returned to the Browns in 1914 for his longest stint in the majors. He appeared in 16 games for the 1914 Browns, eight as a starter, and compiled a 2–5 record with a 3.42 ERA. He appeared in his final major league game on August 5, 1914. Taylor continued to pitch in the minor leagues for several years, including stints with the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as ...

(1913-1915),

Nashville Volunteers The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963. Known only as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they were officially named the Nashville Volunteers (often sh ...

(1916-1917), Salina Millers (1923), and Topeka Kaws (1923).

Later years

After his baseball career ended, Taylor lived in

. He worked as a farmer and served as sheriff of Pottawotamie County in 1926 and 1927. In his later years, he operated a service station and recreation parlor in Westmoreland, Kansas. He died in 1954 at Westmoreland. He was buried at Louisville Cemetery in

Louisville, Kansas Louisville is a city in Pottawatomie County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 131. History Founded in 1857 by Robert Wilson as Rock Post. The area was once part of the Potawatomi Hunting grounds an ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Wiley 1888 births 1954 deaths Baseball players from Kansas People from Westmoreland, Kansas Chicago White Sox players Detroit Tigers players Major League Baseball pitchers St. Louis Browns players Ellsworth Blues players Austin Senators players Lincoln Railsplitters players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Jersey City Skeeters players Nashville Vols players Salina Millers players Topeka Kaws players People from Wamego, Kansas