ONEMOREINNING

   FORGOTTEN PLAYERS:PART THREE

JACK TAYLOR: People enjoy talking about baseball records that will never be broken ….and of course most of them are! This one is a sure fire cinch never to be broken  with the way the game is played now………………maybe.

 

   Jack Taylor was a very fine pitcher way, way, back then. He’s not mentioned at all these days but he holds a record that should be the envy of every pitcher playing the game at the present time.

   We could talk about Taylor’s lifetime record which consisted of 152 wins and 139 losses with an ERA of 2.67. That alone is impressive enough.

   However what earned him baseball immortality was the following:

As a pitcher he appeared in 118 consecutive games from  June 1901 to August 1906 without ever being taken out for a reliever. The streak was interrupted by 15 relief appearances on his own. He then pitched several more games and all in all he totaled 202 conecutive games  without being relieved.

   A phenomenal record. He achieved it while with the Cubs and finished it with the St. Louis Cardinals.

   At this point the record is 88 years old.

   There are other achievements that Taylor had that should be mentioned;

   He won twenty games over five times:

   In 1902 he was with Cubs when they won the pennant:

   In 1906 he was with the Cubs when they won the pennant:

   In 1907 while with the Cubs, he appeared in two games during the World Series:

   He was born in New Straitsville, Ohio in 1874.  He passed away in Columbus Ohio in 1938 at the age of 64.

    His nickname was, “Brakeman” and he is not to be mistaken for another Jack Taylor who not only happened to be a pitcher but also played in the same period. This Jack Taylor’s nickname was, “Brewery Jack” and for good reason. In his short life (1871-1900/died at age 26) he was known to be a heavy drinker and difficult to deal with, especially when it came to Umpires decisions. “Brewery Jack” was not in the same league as our Jack. His lifetime record was 120 wins and 117 losses with a 4.23 ERA . He passed away from excessive drinking and advanced Brights Disease.

     Getting back to our Jack Taylor (Brakeman), he came to the Cubs in 1893, was traded to Cinncinati in 1903 for Mordechai “Three fingered “Brown, and then,  came back to the Cubs in 1906 where he ended his career.

      For many years he and his remarkable record were forgotten. Thanks to the emergence of SABR (THE SOCIETY OF BASEBALL RESEARCH) we have gotten to know about him once again.

      He lived in Columbus Ohio for most of his life after his career was over and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetary.