TORONTO — Dr. Ron Taylor, a two-time World Series-winning pitcher and longtime Toronto Blue Jays team physician, has died. He was 87.

The Blue Jays confirmed Taylor’s death in a statement on Monday 16 June 2025.

A cause of death was not provided. ( He had suffered from both dementia and Alzheimer's for a number of years until his death )

Taylor, who was born in Toronto on 13 December 1937, played 10 seasons in the major leagues from 1962 to 1972 after signing with the Cleveland Indians in 1955.

Taylor threw and batted right-handed, and was listed as 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and 195 pounds (88 kg). He attended the University of Toronto, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering in 1961; he returned to the university to attend medical school after the conclusion of his baseball career in May 1972 when he was 34.

Tayloralso served for a time in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

He impressed at a tryout at which the Cleveland Indians inked him to a deal which included a $ 4,000 signing bonus.

After parts of seven seasons in the minors, Taylor made one of the most remarkable pitching debuts in Major League Baseball history when he started for Cleveland at which he threw 11 scoreless innings at Fenway Park in his big league debut on 11 April 1962, before surrendering a 12th-inning grand slam in a 4-0 defeat.

In that contest, he pitched 11 scoreless innings, scattering 10 hits and striking out five. In the 12th inning of the scoreless tie he loaded the bases with none out at which Red Sox right fielder CARROLL HARDY belted a walk-off grand slam home run off Taylor to give the home squad a 4-0 victory. Taylor also had two singles in four at bats at the plate which was one half of the hit total for The Tribe against Boston starter BILL MONBOUQUETTE.

Appearing in eight games pitched for the Indians, he returned to the minor leagues after 20 May spending the rest of the year in Triple-AAA.

Then, on 15 December 1962, Cleveland traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals to obtain first baseman FRED WHITFIELD, who later on appeared briefly in four games with the Montreal Expos in 1970 at the end of his playing career.

Taylor’s 11 innings remains the record for most by an American League pitcher in their MLB debut.

Right-hander AL JURISICH tossed 12 2/3 innings for the National League’s St. Louis Cardinals against the Cincinnati Reds in his first game on 26 April 1944.

With ST. Louis he assumed a key bullpen role on their 1964 World Series-winning squad.

With the Cardinals trailing 2-1 in that Fall Classic series, Taylor held a New York Yankees lineup that boasted MICKEY MANTLE, ROGER MARIS and ELSTON HOWARD hitless for four innings in relief in Game 4 to preserve a one-run victory.

He was later a key member of the 1969 “ MIRACLE METS ” championship team.

He earned a win out of the bullpen against Atlanta in the National League Championship Series, then surrendered no hits in 2 1/3 innings with a save in two appearances in the World Series against the favoured Baltimore Orioles.

He led the Mets with 59 appearances and 13 saves in 1969.

Taylor spent the remainder of his pitching career in the National League.

With the 1963 Cardinals, he worked in 58 games and posted nine wins, two complete games in nine starts, 11 saves, and an earned run average of 2.97.

The following year, his eight wins and eight saves contributed to the Cardinals' successful, 11th-hour drive to the 1964 National League pennant.

In the World Series that followed, Taylor worked in two games and threw 4 2⁄3 hitless innings against the New York Yankees; notably, he went four innings in Game 4 at Yankee Stadium to preserve a 4–3 triumph by ROGER CRAIG and get credit for a save. When the Redbirds prevailed in seven games, Taylor earned his first World Series ring.

He then suffered through two off-years in 1965 and 1966. In 1965, Taylor appeared in 25 games for St. Louis through 15 June, then was traded to the Astros for left-handed relief specialist HAL WOODESHICK. He pitched poorly in Houston for the next season and a half, winning only three of 11 decisions ( with four saves ), and logged a nightmarish 6.03 earned run average in 68 total games pitched.

On 10 February 1967, former Cardinals general manager BING DEVINE, now president of the Mets, purchased his contract and revitalized his career.

Although the five-year-old Mets remained a second-division team in both 1967 and 1968, Taylor enjoyed two sparkling campaigns coming out of the New York bullpen, with 22 saves in 108 total relief appearances and a composite ERA of 2.47. Then, in 1969, Taylor was a key member of what became known as the " MIRACLE METS " who stunned baseball by rising from their ninth-place 1968 finish all the way to the world championship.

Taylor formed half of a formidable bullpen duo with left-hander TUG McGRAW, leading the club in games pitched ( 59 ) and saves ( 13 ), winning nine of 13 decisions, and posting an effective 2.72 earned run average during the regular season. He then pitched 3 1⁄3 innings of scoreless relief in the 1969 National League Championship Series against the Atlanta Braves, allowing just three hits in his two appearances, and gaining credit for a victory in Game 2. Then, in the 1969 World Series against the favoured Baltimore Orioles,

Taylor worked in two games, surrendered no hits in 2 1⁄3 innings pitched, and saved the Game 2 victory for JERRY KOOSMAN that kick-started the Mets' five-game Series triumph. Thus, in his four career World Series games, Taylor allowed no hits and only two bases on balls in seven full innings, with five strikeouts, and faced the minimum of 21 hitters.

Taylor remained with the Mets in 1970 and 1971 posting seven more wins and 15 saves in 102 total games, although his ERA rose to 3.79.

Then his contract was sold to the Montreal Expos, who released him on 20 April 1972, without bringing him into a game.

Taylor then signed with the San Diego Padres, although was ineffective in three of his four appearances in a San Diego uniform; on 14 May against Montreal at Jarry Park, he gave up home runs to KEN SINGLETON and RON FAIRLY in his final major league pitching appearance.

Over his regular-season career, Taylor compiled a 45–43 won-lost, his 74 saves rank as the seventh-most by a Canadian-born pitcher and three complete games in 491 appearances, 474 of them as a relief pitcher. In 800 innings pitched, he allowed 794 hits and 209 walks, striking out 464. His career ERA was 3.93. He posted a .103 batting average ( 12-for-116 ) in his major league career. He was very good defensively, making only three errors in 169 total chances for a .982 fielding percentage, which was 27 points higher than the league average at his position. In his post-season career, including the 1969 NLCS, he was 1–0 with three saves and a 0.00 ERA in six games pitched, permitting only three hits in 10 1⁄3 innings pitched.

After retiring in 1972, he returned to Toronto and received a medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1977 having been inspired to do so after visiting field hospitals while on a USO goodwill tour during the Vietnam War.

He joined the Blue Jays as team physician in 1979 and earned the nickname “ DR. BASEBALL ” as he served in the role for 30 years, a span which included the team’s World Series titles in 1992 and 1993.

Taylor was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. He was appointed to the Order of Ontario by Lieutenant Governor James Bartleman in 2005.

“ The Toronto Blue Jays are saddened to learn of the passing of long-time team doctor and former Major League Baseball player, Ron Taylor,” the team said in a statement. “ Known to many as " Dr. Baseball ", the Toronto native won four World Series Championships during his illustrious career, including two with the Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993. His impact on the game, in the community, and on our organization will be remembered forever. Our thoughts are with his loved ones.”

“ Ron Taylor was a true inspiration who was a legend on and off the field,” said the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in a statement. “ After honing his skills in the Leaside Baseball Association in Toronto, he developed into a two-time World Series-winning pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964 and the New York Mets in 1969. In the seven innings he pitched in the World Series, he didn’t allow a hit or a run.

“ But he made his greatest impact following his playing career when he became a medical doctor. In 1979, he was appointed the Toronto Blue Jays team doctor and for more than 30 years, he helped heal many of the team’s top players. He also had a private practice where he provided expert and compassionate care to hundreds of patients. Ron was one of our earliest inductees and we will miss him dearly. We are sending our thoughts and prayers to his family.”

Taylor is survived by his wife, Rona and two sons Drew and Matthew.

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THE NEW YORK POST - 18 JULY 2009 -

MIRACLE MET RON TAYLOR IS

NOW BLUE JAYS TEAM DOCTOR

LIFE does not stop when you stop pitching. Sometimes, it is just beginning. There is no better example of that than Miracle Met Ron Taylor.

The right-hander began his professional career in 1956. Before he threw his first pitch in the majors in 1962 with Cleveland, the straight-A student had earned a degree in electrical engineering.

Taylor, 71, was a key figure in the Mets’ run to the world championship in 1969. He went 9-4 with 13 saves. He appeared in four postseason games and did not allow a run. He earned a win and a save in a 3-0 sweep of the Braves in the NLCS, and collected another save in the World Series victory over the Orioles.

“ I had a pretty good year,” Taylor said. “ I guess, for me, the biggest thrill was to win a playoff game and save a playoff game and save a World Series game.”

Taylor pitched for the Cardinals in the 1964 World Series win over the Yankees and did not allow a run over 4 1⁄3 innings. So he never allowed a postseason run while earning three saves and a win.

But that is just the start of the story.

After that 1969 season, Taylor, a Canadian, went to Vietnam, along with Tug McGraw, to visit the troops on a USO tour. It changed his life.

“ We visited the hospitals and the fire support bases,” said Taylor, who will be at Citi Field on 22 August 2009 for the 40th reunion of the 1969 Mets. “ I met a lot of doctors over there and became friends with a couple of them, and that’s what kind of got me interested in medicine. I got to experience a lot of medical care that was given.”

Three years later, Taylor’s baseball career was coming to an end. He was with the Padres and one day during batting practice was in the outfield with teammate CITO GASTON.

“Cito,” he said, “I think I am going to go back to medical school when my baseball career is over.”

Gaston responded, “ What are you going to do ?”

“I’m going to go back to medical school.”

Gaston asked again, “ No Ron, what are you really going to do ?”

“ The next time I saw Cito,” Taylor said, “ I was the team doctor here in Toronto and he was the hitting coach. Cito walks over to me and says, ‘ How’d you do that Ron ?’

“ I said, ‘ Cito, it was not easy.’ ”

Taylor first met with the associate dean of the University of Toronto in 1972 and was told it wasn’t a good idea to go to medical school at the age of 35.

“ We don’t like to really see people changing careers going into medical school,” the dean said.

“ Well then,” Taylor said, “ my career died a natural death, it’s time to move on.”

After a year of pre-med, Taylor was accepted into medical school.

“ When I walked in, all the young kids thought I was a repairman,” Taylor said. He earned his medical degree and went back to baseball as the Blue Jays team doctor as well as having a private practice. He has been with the Blue Jays the last 31 years.

Taylor said then-Mets chairman M. DONALD GRANT was extremely supportive of his medical quest.

“ He was from Montreal and I’m from Toronto,” Taylor said, “ and he supported my application to medical school very strongly. I’ll never forget what he did for me. He did it on his own. I never asked him.”

Medicine has proven to be a most rewarding career.

“ It’s given me a whole new life,” Taylor said. “ I feel very fortunate because every career I’ve had, from engineering into major league baseball into medicine, I’ve just loved what I was doing.”

Ron Taylor keeps earning one save after another.