Ben Taylor
The two-way excellence of "Old Reliable" puts him in rarefied air among Negro League legends. Taylor hit .328 across two decades while posting a 3.29 ERA as a pitcher — a combination of sustained offensive production and mound effectiveness that few players in any era could match.
His 1920 campaign with the Indianapolis ABCs showcases the steady reliability that earned his nickname. That .302 average and .781 OPS represented peak Taylor: never flashy, always productive. The 113 OPS+ tells the story of a hitter who consistently delivered above-average offense throughout his prime.
What separates Taylor from his contemporaries isn't peak dominance but longevity. Playing first base as his primary position while moonlighting on the mound for 16 years, he embodied the versatility that Negro League teams demanded. His 2006 Hall of Fame induction recognized not just the numbers, but the complete player who could change a game with his bat or his arm.
Career · Batting
20 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910 | WBS | 6 | 23 | 0 | 0 | .261 | — | — |
| 1911 | SLG | 14 | 34 | 0 | 5 | .353 | — | — |
| 1912 | WBS | 8 | 19 | 0 | 4 | .474 | — | — |
| 1913 | CAG | 25 | 103 | 1 | 16 | .330 | — | — |
| 1914 | ABC | 60 | 216 | 4 | 53 | .366 | — | — |
| 1915 | ABC | 60 | 215 | 1 | 47 | .293 | — | — |
| 1916 | ABC | 41 | 150 | 0 | 28 | .313 | — | — |
| 1917 | ABC | 57 | 218 | 0 | 39 | .294 | — | — |
| 1918 | ABC | 41 | 157 | 2 | 37 | .306 | — | — |
| 1919 | AC | 21 | 77 | 0 | 13 | .299 | — | — |
| 1920 | ABC | 75 | 275 | 3 | 46 | .302 | .781 | 113 |
| 1921 | ABC | 88 | 334 | 2 | 73 | .392 | — | — |
| 1922 | ABC | 81 | 321 | 2 | 59 | .383 | — | — |
| 1923 | BBS | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | .167 | — | — |
| 1924 | WP | 60 | 237 | 4 | 50 | .304 | — | — |
| 1925 | HBG | 70 | 268 | 5 | 65 | .325 | — | — |
| 1926 | BBS | 53 | 167 | 1 | 23 | .299 | — | — |
| 1927 | BBS | 65 | 236 | 2 | 43 | .335 | — | — |
| 1928 | BBS | 57 | 220 | 2 | 38 | .318 | — | — |
| 1929 | ACB | 39 | 115 | 4 | 17 | .270 | — | — |
| Career | 923 | 3391 | 33 | 657 | .328 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
13 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910 | WBS | 3 | 22.0 | 0 | 2 | 3.27 | 85 | 9 | 1.455 |
| 1911 | SLG | 8 | 51.3 | 7 | 0 | 4.03 | 84 | 21 | 1.578 |
| 1912 | NLG | 3 | 23.3 | 1 | 1 | 4.24 | 79 | 10 | 1.414 |
| 1914 | ABC | 7 | 59.0 | 4 | 0 | 1.53 | 192 | 38 | 0.949 |
| 1915 | ABC | 7 | 28.0 | 1 | 2 | 4.18 | 69 | 11 | 1.464 |
| 1916 | ABC | 2 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 5.14 | 54 | 3 | 1.429 |
| 1917 | ABC | 2 | 15.7 | 0 | 1 | 2.87 | 94 | 6 | 1.213 |
| 1918 | ABC | 2 | 11.7 | 1 | 0 | 6.94 | 41 | 2 | 1.543 |
| 1919 | AC | 1 | 2.7 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | — | 2 | 0.750 |
| 1920 | ABC | 8 | 22.3 | 1 | 1 | 2.82 | 122 | 7 | 0.940 |
| 1921 | ABC | 3 | 3.7 | 1 | 0 | 2.45 | 164 | 1 | 1.909 |
| 1922 | ABC | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | — | 0 | 0.500 |
| 1926 | BBS | 1 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | — | 0 | 6.000 |
| Career | 48 | 249.0 | 16 | 7 | — | — | 110 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.