James Allen "Candy Jim" Taylor (February 1, 1884April 3, 1948) was an American

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

. In a career that spanned forty years, he played as an infielder in the early years of the 20th century for over a dozen black baseball teams; by the mid 1920s, he would play less regularly (doing so as a pinch hitter), with his final game came at 58. In 1920, the same year of the start of the golden era of Negro league baseball, he would take on the responsibilities of manager, where he would manage 1,967 games for twelve teams. Described as one of the great strategists of his era, Taylor is the all-time winningest manager in the Negro league era, having 955 wins along with two

Negro World Series The Negro World Series was a post-season baseball tournament that was held from 1924 to 1927 and from 1942 to 1948 between the champions of the Negro leagues, matching the mid-western winners against their east-coast counterparts. The series was ...

titles and one additional pennant in 27 seasons as manager. He has the most seasons managed by an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

manager along with having the seventh most for a manager in the history of baseball.

Biography

Born in

Anderson, South Carolina Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 28,106 at the 2020 census, and the city was the center of an urbanized area of 75,702. It is one of the principal cities in the Green ...

, Taylor was one of four brothers who played in the Negro leagues, along with Ben, C. I. and "Steel Arm" Johnny. Taylor began playing ball with an amateur club in Anderson, South Carolina in 1901, starting as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher ...

."Frank Lelands' Chicago Giants Base Ball Club" Fraternal Printing Company, 1910
/ref> He played with several different clubs in 1902 and 1903, finally landing a position with the Birmingham Giants in 1904 where he played third base. That year, he played in 55 regular season games and only made three errors. 1910StPaulGophers

Taylor continued with Birmingham until 1909, and moved to the St. Paul Colored Gophers for part of a season in 1910. He was named the captain of the team. Later in 1910, he was asked to play for the Chicago Giants,"Chicago Giants Will Raise Flag Sunday" Chicago Broad Ax, Chicago, IL, Page 2, Columns 4 and 5
/ref> but played instead for the West Baden Sprudels as a player/manager until 1913. In 1914, he moved to the Indianapolis ABC's as a player/manager, and by 1916, he helped the Indianapolis ABC's to win the Black World Championship. During the War, Taylor seemed to rotate between three teams, the Indianapolis ABCs, Dayton Marcos, and the

Detroit Stars The Detroit Stars were an American baseball team in the Negro leagues and played at historic Mack Park. The Stars had winning seasons every year but two, but were never able to secure any championships. Among their best players was Baseball Hall o ...

. In 1918, 34 year-old Taylor registered for the WWI Draft. He lists his current occupation as a "Laborer" for the Penn Freight House at Dela and Georgia Street in Indianapolis, Indiana. Taylor lists his current address as 645 Blackford Street in Indianapolis. He does not list any dependents and lists his closest relative as Charles Isaac Taylor at 446 Indiana Avenue."WWI Draft Registration of Candy Jim Taylor" Local Board Division 4, Fletcher American Bank Building, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, September 12, 1918
/ref> When the newly formed Negro National League started in 1920, Candy Jim worked as a

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

for the Dayton Marcos. But he moved on to the Cleveland Tate Stars in the next season. He also served as a vice chairman for the league during its tenure (his brother C.I. also served as one of the co-founders of the league and vice president). A disciplinarian and a master strategist, as manager Taylor led the St. Louis Stars to contention in the Negro National League, which coincided with the decision to match first half and second half champions for a Championship Series, starting in 1925 (his third and final season in his first stint). That year, his team won the second half of the season and won the right to be matched against the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1 ...

. They lost that series four to three. Taylor returned in 1927 to St. Louis and managed them to their first championship in 1928, doing so over the

Chicago American Giants The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" Fo ...

five games to four in the Championship Series. The Great Depression took its toll on the economics of the game, and while managing the 1933 Richmond All-Stars, Taylor was forced to sell the team bus, and later had to send the players home. In

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

Taylor took over as manager for the Homestead Grays, which had been led by player-manager Vic Harris. After having won the NNL title for the previous three seasons, the Grays were tasked to try and win it again for the right to advance to the newly created second incarnation of the

title. They succeeded in winning the pennant and the World Series, for which they would repeat their success again the following year.

Death and legacy

Grave of James Allen Taylor (1884–1948) at Burr Oak Cemetery

Taylor died at age 64 of a heart attack in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and was interred in the

Burr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, Illinois Burr Oak Cemetery is a cemetery located in Alsip, Illinois, United States, a suburb southwest of Chicago, Illinois. Established in 1927, Burr Oak was one of the few early Chicago cemeteries focused on the needs of the African-American community, ...

. He was buried in an unmarked grave which remained that way for nearly 54 years, until the Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project raised funds for a proper

headstone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, ...

in 2004. Taylor managed a variety of black baseball legends in four decades that ranged from Cool Papa Bell to Josh Gibson to Vic Harris while being selected to coach in the East-West All Star Game four times.

Managerial record

References

Notes

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
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Seamheads
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Seamheads
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Candy Jim Negro league baseball managers Baseball players from South Carolina People from Anderson, South Carolina 1884 births 1948 deaths Baltimore Elite Giants players Birmingham Black Barons players Birmingham Giants players Chicago American Giants players Chicago Giants players Cleveland Elites players Cleveland Tate Stars players Columbus Elite Giants players Dayton Marcos players Detroit Stars players Homestead Grays players Indianapolis ABCs players Indianapolis ABCs (1931–1933) players Leland Giants players Louisville White Sox (1914-1915) players Memphis Red Sox players Nashville Elite Giants players St. Paul Colored Gophers players St. Louis Stars (baseball) players Toledo Tigers players Washington Elite Giants players West Baden Sprudels players Burials at Burr Oak Cemetery 20th-century African-American people