UPDATED: July 17, 12 p.m.
The team says Taylor died Thursday morning following complications from a stroke he suffered in 2019. He was 84.
Philadelphia loves Tony Taylor, and that showed with the outpouring of tributes for the late Phillies great.
They loved the way he played and how he conducted himself with the city he represented when he took the field for parts of 15 seasons in Phillies red. Taylor also coached in the organization, in the big leagues and minors.
His 1,003 games at second base are second-most in franchise history, trailing only Chase Utley. Taylor is just one of 12 players to ever tally 1,500 hits as a Phillie.
A decade and a half is a long time.
Taylor, or "TT" as he was often called, bonded with Philadelphia sports fans.
“He was a fan favorite, because he played the game the right way,” former teammate Larry Bowa said. “He played it hard and hustled. You never ever saw him dog it to first base if he hit a ground ball. He was always in the game. He never made mental mistakes.”
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“If he wasn’t a ballplayer, he’d be popular, because he was so friendly — never had a bad word to say about anybody," Baker said. "Always smiling, had a nickname for a lot of people — a pleasant nickname — and just always made you feel good to see him.”
Taylor had two stints with the Phillies, 1960 to 1971 and 1974 to 1976.
“The fans were thrilled (when Taylor returned),” Baker said. “He was a very popular Phillie, one of the most popular through the 1960s .... Tony loved Philadelphia, and when he came for the second tour of duty from 1974 to 1976 as a pinch hitter — oh, the fans loved him .... He would get a huge rounds of applause every time that he would be introduced as a pinch hitter.
“And he came through many times.”
Baker summed it up perfectly: “If you’re good to people, a lot of times that comes back to you. ... Beyond being a good baseball player, he was just a very good person. People loved him.”
For Bowa, respect for Taylor came down to his hard work.
“If fans know that you giving everything you have when you put that uniform on, ... if they see effort every time you go out there, they appreciate it that,” Bowa said. “He gave 100%. And I think the fans can relate to that, because, let’s face it, this city is a blue-collar city, and people, they work hard for their money, and they expect you — when they pay to go watch a baseball game — they expect you to give effort for nine innings and 27 outs, and I think Tony Taylor did that as well as anybody.”
Taylor is survived by his wife, Clara, and his children.
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