Phillies fan favorite Tony Taylor dies — dead at 84
He was not on the list.
Taylor’s wife Clara shared the news on Facebook. The Phillies later released a statement announcing that Taylor died of complications from a stroke he suffered last year.
Taylor was a two-time All-Star who had 2,007 hits in his career. The second baseman was a career .261 hitter and was known for his fielding prowess. Taylor had a career .976 fielding percentage over 19 seasons.
As Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Enquirer noted, Taylor cried when the Phillies traded him to the Detroit Tigers in 1971. The team said the goal was to move Taylor to a contender, but he later returned to Philly in 1974 and finished his career there.
“The way the fans received me when I came back, the ovations they gave me, it showed me how much they appreciated the way Tony Taylor played baseball — hard, always hard,” Taylor said of returning to the Phillies. “It meant so much to me. It showed they remembered. It showed they cared.”
Taylor also spent time as a coach with the Phillies and Marlins after he retired from playing. He was one of the most popular players in Phillies history and is a member of the team’s Wall of Fame.
Following his retirement as a player, Taylor coached for the Phillies and Florida Marlins. One of the most popular Phillies ever, he was inducted into the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame in 2002.
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