WHY I THINK JACK TAYLOR SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

 WHY I THINK JACK TAYLOR SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

By- Damien 

Jack Taylor holds the one truly uncatchable record in baseball history. He once started and completed 188 straight ballgames. Ultimately, Taylor threw the last pitch of the games that he appeared in for 202 straight games. The Major League leaders in complete games today rarely get more than one. Besides having perhaps the most durable arm in baseball history, he was also very effective in stopping opposing batters with his control and guile. He won 152 games with a 2.65 lifetime ERA and threw eight shutouts in 1902. Taylor was also a good hitter for a pitcher, and he had a fielding average 17 points above the league average. Jack Taylor started his career with the Chicago Orphans in 1898, going 5-0 in five games, and he completed them all. He won 18, 10, and 13 games in his next three seasons before going 23-11 on a NL low 1.29 ERA in 1902. The Orphans changed their names to the Cubs after that season and Taylor went 21-14. He was traded to the Cardinals, a rather abysmal team at the time, but still managed to win 20 games in 1904 and 15 in 1905. Taylor returned to the Cubs in midseason 1906, finishing up with a 20-12 mark and an ERA of 1.99. He went 7-5 for the 1907 Cubs, who won the World Series, before retiring. Jack Taylor was a great pitcher who holds the one uncatchable record in baseball’s long history. For the great streak and his ERA feats, Jack Taylor really should have been in the Hall of Fame long ago. 

LIFETIME STATISTICS 

Games Pitched career: 311 season high: 41 in 1899 and 1904 

Starts career: 287 season high: 39 in 1899 and 1904 

Complete Games career: 279 season high: 39 in 189 and 1904 led NL: 39 in 1904 

Shutouts career: 20 season high: 8 in 1902 led NL: 8 in 1902  

Games Finished career: 24 season high: 5 in 1907 

Wins career: 152 season high: 23 in 1902 

Losses career: 139 season high: 21 in 1899 and 1905 

Winning Percentage career: .522 season high: .676 in 1902 

ERA career: 2.65 season low: 1.29 in 1902 led NL: 1.29 in 1902 

WHIP career: 1.176 season low: 0.953 in 1902 led NL: 0.953 in 1902 

Innings Pitched career: 2,626 season high: 354 ⅔ in 1899 

Strikeouts career: 662 season high: 103 in 1904 

Strikeouts Per Nine Innings career: 2.3 season high: 3.0 in 1905 

Walks career: 584 season high: 86 in 1906 

Strikeouts Per Walk career: 1.13 season high: 1.96 in 1902 

Saves career: 5 season high: 1 in 1900, 1902, 1903, 1904 and 1905 

Fielding Percentage career: .950 season high: .982 in 1906 

Double Plays career: 26 season high: 8 in 1899 

Putouts career: 162 season high: 24 in 1899 and 1901 

Assists career: 767 season high: 109 in 1904 led NL P: 106 in 1902 

DID YOU KNOW? 

-pitched five innings while allowing no earned runs in his final MLB game 

-set the MLB record for the most consecutive complete games thrown in a single season with 39 in 1904 

-threw a three pitch eighth inning on July 13, 1895 

-pitched over 300 innings in a season six times and topped the 350 mark twice 

-faced 1,000 or more batters in a season seven times and struck out over 100 of them twice 

-batted .222 for his career with 42 doubles, 13 triples, two home runs, 23 sacrifice hits, and 18 stolen bases as a righthanded batter 

-hit one of his home runs off of Bill Dinneen 

-held a career fielding percentage 17 points above the league average
-also played 15 games at third base, two each at first base and second base, three in rightfield, and one as a pinch hitter