Zachary Taylor Shafer (July 13, 1866 – October 27, 1945) was a

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) ...

player in the 19th century.

Career

Shafer was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, in 1866. He started his professional baseball career in 1884, when he played for the

Altoona Mountain City Altoona, a variant of "Altona", may refer to: Places *Altoona, Alabama *Altoona, Florida *Altoona, Iowa *Altoona, Kansas *Altoona, Ohio * Altoona, Pennsylvania * Altoona, Washington * Altoona, Wisconsin Biology *''Altoona'', a synonym of the moth ...

Kansas City Cowboys Several sports team in Kansas City, Missouri have used the name Cowboys: *Kansas City Cowboys (Union Association), a baseball team in the Union Association in 1884 *Kansas City Cowboys (National League), a baseball team in the National League in 18 ...

, and

Baltimore Monumentals The Baltimore Monumentals were an American baseball team in the short-lived Union Association. In their lone season of 1884, they finished fourth in the UA with a 58–47 record. History The team was managed by Bill Henderson. Their top-hitting ...

of the

Union Association The Union Association was a league in Major League Baseball which lasted for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelve teams who were in the Association at some poi ...

. He appeared in 60 games that season, mostly as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

, and had a

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 i ...

of .203."Taylor Shafer Statistics and History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved January 6, 2018. Shafer spent the next five years in the minor leagues. In 1887, he batted a career-high .364 for

Oshkosh Oshkosh may refer to: Places in the United States * Oshkosh, Wisconsin, city and the largest place with the name * Oshkosh (town), Wisconsin * Oshkosh Township, Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota * Oshkosh, Nebraska * Oshkosh Township, Wells County ...

of the

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the ...

."Taylor Shafer Minor League Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved May 25, 2012. In 1890, he made it back to the majors with the American Association's

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakl ...

. He was a second baseman for Philadelphia and batted .172 with 21 RBI in 69 games. That was his last season in professional baseball. Shafer was 5'7" and weighed 155 pounds. He was the brother of fellow baseball player

Orator Shafer George W. Shafer ometimes spelled ''Shaffer'' or ''Schaefer''(October 4, 1851 – January 21, 1922) was an outfielder in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "Orator", because he was an avid speaker, Shafer played for 10 teams in four different majo ...

. Taylor Shafer died in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents ac ...

, in 1945.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shafer, Taylor 1866 births 1945 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball right fielders Altoona Mountain Citys players Kansas City Cowboys (UA) players Baltimore Monumentals players Philadelphia Athletics (AA) players Haverhill (minor league baseball) players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Oshkosh (minor league baseball) players St. Paul Apostles players Toledo Black Pirates players Baseball players from Philadelphia