Candy Jim Taylor
James Allen "Candy Jim" Taylor (February 1, 1884 – April 3, 1948) was an American third baseman and manager in Negro league baseball. He is the all-time winningest manager in the Negro League era, having 955 wins in 1,967 games along with two Negro World Series titles and one pennant in 27 seasons managed (only six managers have managed for longer in baseball history).
Biography
Born in Anderson, South Carolina, Taylor was one of four brothers who played in the Negro leagues, along with Ben, C. I. and "Steel Arm" Johnny.
Taylor began playing ball with an amateur club in Anderson, South Carolina in 1901, starting as a catcher.[7]
He played with several different clubs in 1902 and 1903, finally landing a position with the Birmingham Giants in 1904 where he played third base. That year, he played in 55 regular season games and only made three errors.[7]
Taylor continued with Birmingham until 1909, and moved to the St. Paul Colored Gophers for part of a season in 1910. He was named the captain of the team. Later in 1910, he was asked to play for the Chicago Giants,[7][8] but played instead for the West Baden Sprudels as a player/manager until 1913.
In 1914, he moved to the Indianapolis ABC's as a player/manager, and by 1916, he helped the Indianapolis ABC's to win the Black World Championship. During the War, Taylor seemed to rotate between three teams, the Indianapolis ABCs, Dayton Marcos, and the Detroit Stars.
In 1918, 34 year-old Taylor registered for the WWI Draft. He lists his current occupation as a "Laborer" for the Penn Freight House at Dela and Georgia Street in Indianapolis, Indiana. Taylor lists his current address as 645 Blackford Street in Indianapolis. He does not list any dependents and lists his closest relative as Charles Isaac Taylor at 446 Indiana Avenue.[9]
When the newly formed Negro National League started in 1920, Candy Jim worked as a Player-Manager for the Dayton Marcos.[6] But he moved on to the Cleveland Tate Stars in the next season.
A disciplinarian and a master strategist, as manager Taylor led the St. Louis Stars to contention in the Negro National League, which coincided with the decision to match first half and second half champions for a Championship Series, starting in 1925 (his third and final season in his first stint). That year, his team won the second half of the season and won the right to be matched against the Kansas City Monarchs. They lost that series four to three. [10] Taylor returned in 1927 to St. Louis and managed them to their first championship in 1928, doing so over the Chicago American Giants five games to four in the Championship Series. [11]
The Great Depression took its toll on the economics of the game, and while managing the 1933 Richmond All-Stars, Taylor was forced to sell the team bus, and later had to send the players home.
In 1943 Taylor managed the Homestead Grays to their first Negro World Series title, repeating their success again the following year.
Post-baseball career
Candy Jim Taylor died at age 64 in Chicago and was interred in the Burr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, Illinois. He was buried in an unmarked grave which remained unmarked for nearly 54 years, until the Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project raised funds for a proper headstone in 2004.
Managerial record
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| DAY | 1920 | 52 | 16 | 36 | .308 | 7th in NNL | – | – | – | – |
| CLE | 1922 | 62 | 25 | 35 | .417 | 7th in NNL | – | – | – | – |
| TOL | 1923 | 14 | 7 | 7 | .500 | 8th in NNL | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1923 | 41 | 15 | 25 | .375 | 10th in NNL | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1924 | 84 | 43 | 41 | .512 | 4th in NNL | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1925 | 91 | 59 | 30 | .663 | 2nd in NNL | 3 | 4 | .429 | Lost Championship Series (KC) |
| CLE | 1926 | 48 | 7 | 40 | .149 | 8th in NNL | – | – | – | – |
| DET | 1926 | 21 | 8 | 13 | .381 | 4th in NNL | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1927 | 99 | 62 | 37 | .626 | 2nd in NNL | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1928 | 93 | 67 | 26 | .720 | 1st in NNL | 5 | 4 | .556 | Won Championship Series (CHI) |
| STL | 1929 | 107 | 63 | 42 | .600 | 2nd in NNL | – | – | – | – |
| MEM | 1930 | 86 | 30 | 55 | .353 | 8th in NNL | – | – | – | – |
| IND | 1931 | 67 | 32 | 34 | .485 | 3rd in NNL | – | – | – | – |
| IND | 1932 | 61 | 25 | 32 | .439 | 8th in NSL | – | – | – | – |
| IND | 1933 | 48 | 17 | 31 | .354 | 9th in NNL 2 | – | – | – | – |
| NEG | 1934 | 55 | 22 | 32 | .407 | 6th in NNL 2 | – | – | – | – |
| CEG | 1935 | 57 | 30 | 25 | .545 | 4th in NNL 2 | – | – | – | – |
| WEG | 1936 | 65 | 30 | 34 | .469 | 6th in NNL 2 | – | – | – | – |
| CHI | 1937 | 77 | 39 | 37 | .513 | 3rd in NAL | – | – | – | – |
| CHI | 1938 | 82 | 40 | 39 | .506 | 3rd in NAL | – | – | – | – |
| CHI | 1939 | 75 | 39 | 36 | .520 | 2nd in NAL | – | – | – | – |
| BIR | 1940 | 36 | 12 | 24 | .333 | 6th in NAL | – | – | – | – |
| CHI | 1941 | 37 | 13 | 22 | .371 | 6th in NAL | – | – | – | – |
| CHI | 1942 | 43 | 7 | 36 | .163 | 6th in NAL | – | – | – | – |
| WSH | 1943 | 102 | 78 | 23 | .772 | 1st in NNL 2 | 4 | 1 | .571 | Won Negro World Series (BIR) |
| WSH | 1944 | 85 | 63 | 29 | .685 | 1st in NNL 2 | 4 | 3 | .800 | Won Negro World Series (BIR) |
| CHI | 1945 | 101 | 47 | 53 | .470 | 4th in NAL | – | – | – | – |
| CHI | 1946 | 89 | 31 | 56 | .356 | 6th in NAL | – | – | – | – |
| CHI | 1947 | 89 | 28 | 61 | .315 | 6th in NAL | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 1,967[lower-alpha 1] | 955 | 991 | .491 | 17 | 17 | .500 | |||
References
- Burr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, IL., Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Location 46191). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
- "Win Three Double-Headers In One Week" Indianapolis Freeman, Indianapolis, IN, September 25, 1909, Page 7, Columns 2 and 3
- "Bears Romp Away from Giants 8 to 1" The San Diego Union, San Diego, CA, Monday Morning, December 30, 1912, Page 8, Column 1
- "Big City Stuff is Too Much for Local Club" Logansport Pharos-Reporter, Logansport, IN, Monday, July 9, 1917, Page 6, Columns 1 and 2
- "Palm Beach Notes" Indianapolis Freeman, Indianapolis, IN, February 12, 1916, Page 4
- "A's and Marcos in Two Scraps Here Tomorrow" Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, Indiana, May 22, 1920, Page 19, Column 7
- "Frank Lelands' Chicago Giants Base Ball Club" Fraternal Printing Company, 1910
- "Chicago Giants Will Raise Flag Sunday" Chicago Broad Ax, Chicago, IL, Page 2, Columns 4 and 5
- "WWI Draft Registration of Candy Jim Taylor" Local Board Division 4, Fletcher American Bank Building, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, September 12, 1918
- "1925 Championship Series - Kansas City Monarchs over St. Louis Stars (4-3)".
- "1928 Championship Series - St. Louis Stars over Chicago American Giants (5-4)".
Notes
- Taylor also managed in 21 games that ended in ties
External links
- Negro league baseball statistics and player information from Seamheads.com, or Baseball Reference (Negro leagues)
- "Baseball Hall of Fame candidate biography". Archived from the original on 2006-02-07. Retrieved 2006-02-21.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- Negro Leagues Baseball eMuseum
- Candy Jim Taylor at Find a Grave
