Edward James Taylor (November 17, 1901 – January 30, 1992) was an American professional

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. He was a

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 Baseball scorekeep ...

and

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

for one season (1926) with the

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

. He compiled a .268

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in 272

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

s, with 33

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

Career

Taylor had the distinction of being the third baseman when

Babe Herman Floyd Caves "Babe" Herman (June 26, 1903 – November 27, 1987) was an American professional baseball player and scout. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right fielder between and , most prominently as a member of the Brooklyn Dod ...

of the

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brookl ...

"doubled into a

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Le ...

" on August 15, 1926. With one out and the bases loaded, Herman hit the ball off the right field wall at

Ebbets Field Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush, Brooklyn, Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the History of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn Dodgers baseball tea ...

and tried to stretch a double into a triple. Chick Fewster, who had been on first, advanced to third base – which was already occupied by

Dazzy Vance Charles Arthur "Dazzy" Vance (March 4, 1891 – February 16, 1961) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a pitcher for five different franchises in Major League Baseball (MLB) in a career that spanned 16 seasons over 21 year ...

, who had started slowly from second base because he thought the ball might be caught, got in a rundown between third and home, and was rushing back to third. All three men ended up on third base, with Herman not having watched the play in front of him. Taylor tagged them all, to be sure of getting as many outs as possible. The slow-footed Vance had been a major contributor to the situation, but he was the lead runner and not forced to advance, so according to the rules, he was entitled to the base, and umpire Beans Reardon called Herman and Fewster out, ending the inning. However, Hank DeBerry, who had started the play as a runner on third, scored the winning run the play before the daffiness began.

Personal life

He was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and died in

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh-most populous city in Southern California ...

at the age of 90.

References

External links

1901 births 1992 deaths Boston Braves players Major League Baseball third basemen Major League Baseball shortstops Baseball players from Chicago Minor league baseball managers Albany Senators players Pittsfield Hillies players Waterbury Brasscos players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Toledo Mud Hens players Birmingham Barons players Beaumont Exporters players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Atlanta Crackers players Syracuse Chiefs players Seattle Indians players Portland Beavers players Tacoma Tigers players Seattle Rainiers players Vancouver Mounties players Baseball players from Chula Vista, California 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-shortstop-stub