Wally Taylor

Wally Taylor (1864 – November 10, 1922), was a professional baseball player and manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Despite an extensive 17 year career in the minor leagues, many of them in Class A (the highest at the time), Taylor would never play in a major league game. Taylor is most known for being part of the Milwaukee Brewers rise to prominence during the 1890's. A class A team at the time, Milwaukee signed Taylor and several other talented players (some of which were recommended by Taylor), and soon became a minor league powerhouse, eventually becoming a major league team in 1901, although Taylor was no longer on the team. Taylor's best season was arguably in 1897 when Taylor produced a .318 batting average over 116 games for the Toronto Canucks. In 1899, Taylor became manager of the Toronto Club. In 1900, Taylor became manager of the Syracuse Stars and from 1901 to 1902, the manager of the Utica Pentups, which played in the New York State League. He attempted to play professional baseball until 1905, when he played his last season with the New Bedford Whalers, producing a mediocre batting average of .239.