Mourning the loss of Dr. Ron Taylor

Canadian Baseball loses important icon

On Monday morning, one of the most important figures in Canadian baseball history, Dr. Ron Taylor, passed away at the age of 87, following a lengthy illness.

Dr. Taylor is regarded as a unique and under-rated figure in Canadian sports lore. He owns the all-time record for any Canadian in MLB history, with four World Series rings – two as a pitcher and two as Blue Jays team physician in 1992-93. He is recognized as a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall-of-Fame (1985), Canada’s Sports Hall-of-Fame (1993) and was awarded the Order of Ontario in 2005.

Born in Toronto in 1937, Taylor was signed as a righthanded starter at the age of 18 by the Cleveland organization in 1956, an era with no draft and few teams scouting this country, when Canadians in the majors were a rarity. But, even after signing a pro contract, Taylor stayed with his long-term dreams and continued his education in his baseball off-seasons. Ron played in the majors with the Indians, Cardinals, Astros Mets and Padres from 1962-72. He was signed by the fourth-year Expos in 1972 but was released at the end of spring training, finishing his career with the Padres.

As a relief pitcher, Taylor was a key performer for two champions, the 1964 Cardinals over the Yankees and the 1969 Miracle Mets over the Orioles. In his two World Series, he threw a total of seven no-hit, no-run innings in four relief appearances, with two walks and five strikeouts. When you include the ’69 NLCS vs. the Braves, Taylor compiled 10.1 post-season shutout innings.

Following his release by San Diego in May of 1972, he went back to medical school, earning his degree from the University of Toronto in 1977 — which also happened to be the debut season of the Blue Jays in the American League. Two years later the Jays hired Dr. Ron Taylor as the team physician. He combined that with private practice and earned two more rings with the Jays in 1992-93 as a key part of the organization’s medical team, retiring in 2014, remaining on in an “emeritus” status.

Dr. Taylor was known for his quiet humour, obvious understanding of his players’s needs and omnipresent sense of humanity. I had arrived as the Toronto Star baseball columnist in 1995 and my sense of Dr. Taylor was that he recognized and respected fellow baseball lifers, always making time to stop and chat and always available for any baseball conversation, while, at the same time, respecting the privacy of his athlete-patients. His magnificent no-comments on health questions regarding his patient/athletes were always firm, but respectful.

“Dr. Taylor was part of a generation that helped carve out space for sport medicine in professional baseball,” said Dr. David Lawrence, who was brought in to the Jays’ family under Dr. Taylor. “His love for the game and commitment to the athletes he cared for set an example for generations of team physicians. Those of us who have followed in his path owe a debt of gratitude to pioneers like Dr. Taylor. His legacy endures in the history of this club and in the culture of care he helped establish.”

Former Toronto Star baseball columnist and sports editor, Dave Perkins became a personal friend to Dr. Taylor while covering the Jays throughout the ‘80s and for the glory years of the back-to-back World Series. Perkins remembered visiting the Taylor home and describes the family basement as “like a wing of Cooperstown” with personal memories like jerseys, photos, equipment, framed letters and World Series rings. No question that it was the home of a baseball lifer, indeed.

Another retired Toronto Star sports reporter, Mark Zwolinski, credits Dr. Taylor withy some of the best memories and most fun summers of his life.

Taylor, post-his-retirement and prior to joining the Jays, was southern-Ontario scout for the New York Mets. Zwolinski (nicknamed Zorro by his friends) was a young lefthanded pitcher for York Legion at midget and junior, who was unaware he was being scouted. The Mets bird-dog area scout Ron Roncetti tipped Taylor off about Zorro’s southpaw exploits and he recommended him to the Mets.

A simple bus ticket, destination Little Falls (NY-Penn League) and a first-year salary of $400 per month was the cut-rate Siren’s Song needed to lure Zwolinski onto the pro-baseball rocks. In his four years at various levels of the Mets system, the North York native was able to become teammates with John Gibbons, Billy Beane, J.P. Ricciardi and Darryl Strawberry, memories and friendships that still make Zorro smile.

Taylor led a major-league life about which Canadian sports fans should know more. Much respect! He was the rare, admirable athlete able to combine sporting passion with an education and meld them into what became a dream life in baseball. Condolences to the Taylor family and RIP to a great Canadian, Dr. Ron Taylor.