Bill Taylor

William Michael Taylor (December 30, 1929 – September 15, 2011) was an American professional baseball player who appeared in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the New York Giants and Detroit Tigers for all or parts of five seasons (–).

Baseball career Minor leagues Taylor was born in Alhambra, California. He threw and batted left-handed and was listed as tall and . He signed with the Pacific Coast League's Oakland Oaks in 1947 and was acquired by the Giants during the 1950 minor league baseball season. He spent most of 1953 with the Giants' Double-A minor league affiliate, the Nashville Volunteers. After posting a .350 batting average with 22 home runs in 107 games for Nashville, he was promoted to the Giants' Triple-A farm club, the Minneapolis Millers. He played 47 games for the Millers, batting .223 with seven home runs.

In Major League Baseball Taylor made his Major League debut for the Giants on April 14, 1954, pinch hitting for Mario Picone and striking out against Brooklyn Dodgers' pitcher Don Newcombe. He spent the entire 1954 season with the National League champion Giants, appearing in 55 games and getting 12 hits in 65 at bats for a .185 batting average.

Taylor again spent the entire season with the Giants in . He played in 65 games and had 17 hits in 64 at-bats for a .266 batting average, while hitting four home runs and a .516 slugging percentage. He hit 7 home runs, and 26 runs batted in and 17 runs scored, a .264 on-base percentage and a .405 slugging percentage. He also played in 1261 minor league games between 1947 and 1961, with a .311 batting average and 186 home runs.

Taylor died on September 15, 2011, in Antelope Valley, California.