Dr. Ron Taylor, a World Series champion pitcher with both the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets who later became the Toronto Blue Jays team physician, died Monday at age 87 after a lengthy illness.
Taylor died in Toronto, according to a statement from the Mets. The Toronto native was a member of both the 1964 Cardinals and 1969 Mets championship teams, making him one of the few players to win World Series titles with multiple franchises.
The right-handed pitcher spent five seasons with the Mets from 1967 to 1971, establishing himself as a key reliever during their miraculous 1969 championship run. That season, Taylor led the team with 59 appearances and 13 saves while posting a 9-4 record and 2.72 ERA.
Former Mets teammate Art Shamsky emphasized Taylor’s importance to the team’s success, noting that he was the only pitcher on their staff with postseason experience. Shamsky indicated that Taylor had won a championship with the Cardinals in 1964 and brought a winning mentality to the team.
Taylor’s postseason performance in 1969 proved crucial to the Mets’ championship. He pitched 2⅓ scoreless innings in the World Series against Baltimore, earning a save in Game 2 when he retired Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson with two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth inning. In the National League Championship Series against Atlanta, Taylor saved Game 1 and earned the win in Game 2.
The Mets described Taylor as one of the unsung heroes of their 1969 championship run. His veteran presence and clutch performances helped guide the young team through their first World Series victory, just seven years after the franchise’s inception.
Taylor’s professional baseball career spanned 11 seasons from 1962 to 1972. He began with the Cleveland Indians in 1962, making his debut on April 11 with 11 scoreless innings at Fenway Park before surrendering a 12th-inning grand slam in a 4-0 defeat. He joined the Cardinals in 1963 and helped them capture the 1964 World Series title.
After his time with the Cardinals and Mets, Taylor also pitched for the Houston Astros and concluded his career with the San Diego Padres in 1972. Over his 11-year career, he compiled a 45-43 record with a 3.93 ERA, 464 strikeouts, and 74 saves across 491 games, including 17 starts.
Following his retirement from baseball, Taylor pursued a medical degree at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1977. His interest in medicine was sparked during a USO tour to Vietnam near the end of his playing career, where he met and befriended doctors who inspired his career change.
In 1979, Taylor joined the Blue Jays as team physician, a position he held for more than three decades until his retirement in 2014. During his tenure with Toronto’s medical staff, the Blue Jays won World Series championships in 1992 and 1993, giving Taylor four total World Series rings throughout his baseball career.
The Blue Jays released a statement expressing their sadness at Taylor’s passing, referring to him as Dr. Baseball. The organization noted that the Toronto native won four World Series championships during his career, including two with the Blue Jays. They emphasized that his impact on the game, community, and organization would be remembered forever.
Taylor received numerous honors for his contributions to baseball and medicine. He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985 and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1993. He also received induction into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2010 and was appointed to the Order of Ontario by Lieutenant Governor James Bartleman in 2005.
In his later years, Taylor frequently returned to Mets games for ceremonies honoring the 1969 World Series-winning team. During these appearances over the past 16 years, he reflected on his unique career path that took him from engineering to professional baseball to medicine.
Taylor expressed his gratitude for having multiple fulfilling careers in a 2009 interview, stating that he felt very fortunate because every career he had pursued brought him joy. He noted that his medical career with the Blue Jays had given him a whole new life after baseball.
Born in Toronto on December 13, 1937, Taylor originally signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1955 before making his major league debut seven years later. His 50 saves with the Mets from 1967 to 1971 still rank 14th in franchise history, cementing his legacy as an important contributor to the team’s early success.
