“There probably was no baseball player better known in California than Edward Taylor, better known as ‘Live’ Taylor, who played left field for the Pioneers last season. For some months past Taylor has been suffering from lung complaint, and a few weeks ago he went to the springs. Yesterday he returned home in a dying condition, and a short time after died at his residence in San Francisco. He was a player who enjoyed a good reputation as well as a good record, and in his decease the Pioneers have lost a valuable player and an agreeable comrade. Taylor leaves a wife and a son 7 years of age.”

“Death of a Noted Player”, Oakland Tribune, 20 February 1888, Page 7.

Edward Taylor played on a number of teams in the 1870s and 1880s, including Hartford (1877), Troy (1879) and Pittsburgh (1884 – American Association). Most of his teams, however, were on the west coast.

Shortly after George Edward Taylor was born in Belfast, Maine on February 3, 1851, the fourth of eight children, the Taylor family heeded the advice of one Horace Greeley and headed west – landing in San Francisco. His parents, George Greenleaf and Julia Ann (Jackson) Taylor did this in stages, moving to New York by 1860 and to San Francisco after the Great War for Slavery. Taylor likely learned the game in New York City where the game was growing in leaps and bounds. His aggressive play and athletic talent earned him the nickname “Live”; that name has followed him into the encyclopedias.

Taylor played on many of the best amateur, semi-professional, and professional clubs in California as early as the late 1860s. In 1870, he was among the best players on the Eagles Club that topped the Silver Stars of Nevada, a club founded and led by former Washington National and Olympic star, Henry Berthrong. That Eagles team claimed the Pacific Coast championship. He was still an active player in late 1887, playing left field with the Pioneer Club of San Francisco.

While Taylor played mostly the outfield for any number of Bay Area teams, a tour east got him opportunities to play ball in early minor and major league teams. He appeared in three games (two official) with the Hartfords of Brooklyn – all against Louisville. In that last game, he managed his first three career hits off the infamous Jim Devlin. Taylor returned to major league baseball with Troy for the 1879 season. Taylor played 24 games as an outfielder, weak at the plate and error prone in the outfield. However unsuccessful his two New York tours were, it allowed to him to meet and marry his wife, the former Harriet Price; they wedded in Brooklyn.

The Taylors returned to California for four years, until Bob Ferguson called for Taylor to make one last go with the Alleghenys of the American Association. (Trivia: At 33, Taylor was the 8th oldest player in the Association.) After 41 games, Live struggled to a .211 batting average with little power and again made far more errors than the average outfielder. He was released (twice, actually) and finally returned home for good.

When not a ballplayer, Taylor worked as a blacksmith as a teen in New York, and as a caulker and laborer in California. Taylor’s father also served as a caulker for a ship builder in both California and New York.

Live Taylor caught tuberculosis in the winter of 1887-1888. A trip to a different climate didn’t help him, and two weeks after his 37th birthday consumption took him to the next league on February 19, 1888. Taylor left behind his wife and his son William; his remains were taken to Laurel Hills Cemetery. He remained mobile in death; Taylor was moved from Laurel Hills to Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.

Sources:

1850,1860, 1870, 1880 US Census Records
Maine and New York State marriage records

“Base-Ball,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 26, 1870: 3
“A Tie Game,” Louisville Courier-Journal, August 24, 1877: 4.
“League Liners,” San Francisco Morning Call, February 20, 1888: 8.
“Struck Out,” San Francisco Examiner, February 23, 1888: 8.

The first image was clipped from an image found at the Threads of Our Game site.

The second image was found on Taylor’s FindaGrave.com page. See Cypress Lawn link, above.