Benjamin Eugene Taylor (September 30, 1927 — May 11, 1999) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 first baseman

First baseman

First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...

.

Born in Metropolis, Illinois

Metropolis, Illinois

Metropolis is a city located along the Ohio River in Massac County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,482...

, Taylor originally signed as a free agent

Free agent

In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....

 in 1944 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1949, he was selected by the Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 in the Minor League Draft. He would be returned to the Dodgers the following year. In 1951, he was traded to the St. Louis Browns for Johnny Bero

Johnny Bero

John George Bero was a former Major League Baseball shortstop who played a total of 65 games for the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Browns in the years 1948 and 1951, respectively.- References :...

, Joe Lutz

Joe Lutz

Rollin Joseph "Joe" Lutz was an American professional baseball player and coach, who was the first Caucasian to manage a team in Japanese professional baseball.-Life:...

, and cash. He would play at the Major League level with the team that year.

In 1952, Taylor was traded along with Matt Batts

Matt Batts

Matthew Daniel Batts was a Major League Baseball catcher who played from through for the Boston Red Sox , St. Louis Browns , Detroit Tigers , Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds . Batts batted and threw right-handed...

, Dick Littlefield

Dick Littlefield

Richard Bernard "Dick" Littlefield was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for nine teams between 1950 and 1958.Born in Detroit, Michigan, he died there at age 71....

, and Cliff Mapes

Cliff Mapes

Clifford Franklin Mapes was a professional baseball player. He played five seasons Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the New York Yankees, St...

 to the Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

 for Gene Bearden

Gene Bearden

Henry Eugene "Gene" Bearden was a left-handed knuckleball pitcher in Major League Baseball who completed a remarkable rookie season by closing out the Cleveland Indians' last World Series championship in 1948....

, Bob Cain

Bob Cain

Robert Max Cain [Sugar] was a left-handed pitcher who played Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1954. Cain was born in Longford, Kansas and raised in Salina....

, and Dick Kryhoski

Dick Kryhoski

Richard David Kryhoski was a first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for five different teams between 1949 and 1955. Listed at 6' 2", 200 lb., Kryhoski batted and threw left-handed. He was born and raised in Leonia, New Jersey.Kryhoski attended at Upsala College in East Orange, New...

. He would for the Tigers for a short time before he was traded to the Cleveland Indians

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

 for Hal Erickson. The following year he joined the Dallas Eagles

Dallas Rangers

The Dallas Rangers were a high-level minor league baseball team located in Dallas, Texas, from 1958-64. The team was known by the Dallas Rangers name in 1958-59 and 1964 and as the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers from 1960-63...

 of the Texas League

Texas League

The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892...

. In 1954, he was traded along with two other players and $20,000 to the Cubs for Buster Clarkson

Buster Clarkson

James Buster Clarkson , better known as Buster or Bus Clarkson, was a baseball player who played briefly in the major leagues and had a long career in the Negro leagues, the minor leagues, and the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League...

 and Les Fleming

Les Fleming

Leslie Harvey Fleming was an American Major League Baseball first baseman who played for seven seasons. He played for the Detroit Tigers in 1939, the Cleveland Indians from 1941 to 1942 and from 1945 to 1947, and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1949.-External links:...

. He was later returned to the Texas League, joining the Beaumont Exporters

Beaumont Exporters

The Beaumont Exporters were a franchise in American minor league baseball that played in the Texas League from 1920-49 and 1953-55. The city of Beaumont, Texas, was also represented in the Texas League from 1912-17 and 1919 as the Oilers, from 1950-52 as the Roughnecks, and from 1983-86 as the...

, before becoming a member of the Milwaukee Braves.

He was the uncle of Hawk Taylor

Hawk Taylor

Robert Dale "Hawk" Taylor was a Catcher for the Milwaukee Braves , New York Mets , California Angels and Kansas City Royals ....

, also a native of Metropolis, who played for Braves and three other MLB clubs between 1957–1970.