Ben Taylor

First Baseman · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1912-1936)

Ben Taylor was a first baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1912 to 1936 for 10 teams, including the West Baden Sprudels, a span of 25 seasons. In 923 career games, he hit .328 with 1,112 hits, 33 home runs, and 657 RBI. He also pitched in 48 games, going 16-7 with a 3.29 ERA. Ben Taylor was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 11,667.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

⭐ Hall of Fame 2006
AVG .328
HR 33
RBI 657
H 1,112
OPS .845
PIV 11,667
Position
First Baseman
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
5'11" / 175 lb
Born
7/1/1888 in Anderson, SC, USA
Died
1/24/1953 in Baltimore, MD, USA
MLB Debut
1912-08-24
Last Game
1936-08-23
Hall of Fame
Inducted 2006 (Negro League)

Full name: Benjamin Harrison Taylor

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Ben Taylor — Batting
PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
106.0 92.0 11.0 26.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 7.0 9.0 3.0 6.0 .283 .353 .359 .712

Negro Leagues (season totals). Additive Retrosheet-digitized totals for seasons not already in the logs above; they are not summed into the career line. No team/league breakdown is available, and coverage may be partial.

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Ben Taylor — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1936 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
Listed seasons · 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — —

Career Batting Statistics

Ben Taylor — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
923 3,391 544 1,112 194 65 33 657 102 343 7 .328 .392 .453 .845 11,667

Career AVG .328 vs. league average .271 across their career seasons — +21.0% above league average.

Career OBP .392 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — +17.3% above league average.

Career SLG .453 vs. league average .369 across their career seasons — +22.8% above league average.

Career OPS .845 vs. league average .703 across their career seasons — +20.1% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Ben Taylor (b. 1888) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1910 WBS WES 6 23 0 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .261 — — — — 0.0
1911 SLG WES 14 34 5 12 3 0 0 5 0 2 0 .353 — — — — 0.0
1912 WBS WES 3 11 0 3 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 .273 — — — — 0.0
1912 NLG EAS 5 8 0 6 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 .750 — — — — 0.0
1913 WBS WES 8 33 5 10 0 1 0 5 0 4 0 .303 — — — — 0.0
1913 CAG WES 17 70 13 24 4 1 1 11 1 4 0 .343 .259 (+32%) .325 (+16%) .345 (+36%) .670 (+27%) 0.0
1914 ABC WES 60 216 50 79 23 8 4 53 27 33 0 .366 .255 (+43%) .322 (+40%) .339 (+77%) .661 (+59%) 2140.9
1915 ABC WES 60 215 35 63 18 5 1 47 14 28 0 .293 .250 (+17%) .318 (+21%) .332 (+32%) .651 (+26%) 961.4
1916 ABC WES 41 150 23 47 3 1 0 28 6 10 0 .313 .248 (+26%) .314 (+15%) .326 (+6%) .640 (+10%) 258.0
1917 ABC WES 57 218 27 64 9 4 0 39 5 18 0 .294 .248 (+18%) .312 (+12%) .323 (+15%) .635 (+14%) 460.9
1918 ABC WES 41 157 30 48 5 6 2 37 5 12 0 .306 .255 (+20%) .318 (+14%) .326 (+39%) .645 (+26%) 599.0
1919 AC EAS 21 77 11 23 2 4 0 13 5 9 0 .299 .262 (+14%) .322 (+15%) .347 (+23%) .670 (+19%) 226.6
1920 ABC NNL 75 275 41 83 13 4 3 46 13 28 1 .302 .271 (+11%) .331 (+12%) .363 (+13%) .694 (+12%) 641.4
1921 ABC NNL 88 334 72 131 20 7 2 73 9 32 1 .392 .286 (+37%) .344 (+30%) .395 (+30%) .739 (+30%) 1977.5
1922 ABC NNL 81 321 65 123 29 6 2 59 3 28 0 .383 .285 (+34%) .345 (+26%) .397 (+33%) .743 (+30%) 1795.7
1923 BBS ECL 2 6 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .167 — — — — 0.0
1924 WP ECL 60 237 38 72 11 2 4 50 6 29 0 .304 .283 (+7%) .345 (+10%) .389 (+7%) .734 (+9%) 419.3
1925 HBG ECL 70 268 40 87 14 4 5 65 0 26 0 .325 .288 (+13%) .349 (+10%) .407 (+14%) .756 (+12%) 612.3
1926 BBS ECL 53 167 16 50 7 3 1 23 4 28 4 .299 .279 (+7%) .345 (+17%) .390 (+1%) .735 (+8%) 348.7
1927 BBS ECL 65 236 35 79 9 5 2 43 1 26 0 .335 .282 (+19%) .344 (+16%) .392 (+12%) .736 (+14%) 655.8
1928 BBS ECL 57 220 26 70 14 3 2 38 2 12 1 .318 .280 (+13%) .342 (+4%) .395 (+10%) .737 (+7%) 256.3
1929 ACB ANL 39 115 12 31 6 0 4 17 1 14 0 .270 .289 (-7%) .353 (avg) .415 (+3%) .769 (+1%) 46.0
Career · 22 seasons 923 3,391 544 1,112 194 65 33 657 102 343 7 .328 — — — — 11,400

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Pitching Statistics

Ben Taylor — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
16 7 48 18 15 2 2 249.0 254 91 7 69 110 3.29 844.6

Career ERA 3.29 vs. league average 3.28 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Ben Taylor (b. 1888) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1910 WBS WES 0 2 3 2 2 0 0 22.0 24 8 8 9 3.27 2.79 (-17%) 90.6
1911 SLG WES 7 0 8 5 5 0 0 51.1 61 23 20 21 4.03 3.37 (-20%) -440.4
1912 WBS WES 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 8.0 13 6 2 5 6.75 — 0.0
1912 NLG EAS 1 0 2 2 1 0 0 15.1 15 5 3 5 2.93 3.36 (+13%) 140.0
1914 ABC WES 4 0 7 4 4 1 0 59.0 45 10 11 38 1.53 2.93 (+48%) 1787.4
1915 ABC WES 1 2 7 1 0 0 0 28.0 33 13 8 11 4.18 2.90 (-44%) -1014.5
1916 ABC WES 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 7.0 8 4 2 3 5.14 — 0.0
1917 ABC WES 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 15.2 13 5 6 6 2.87 2.69 (-7%) 10.2
1918 ABC WES 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 11.2 16 9 2 2 6.94 2.83 (-146%) 106.7
1919 AC EAS 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2.2 1 0 1 2 0.00 — 0.0
1920 ABC NNL 1 1 8 1 1 1 1 22.1 18 7 3 7 2.82 3.45 (+18%) 164.7
1921 ABC NNL 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 3.2 5 1 2 1 2.45 — 0.0
1922 ABC NNL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 0 0.00 — 0.0
1926 BBS ECL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.1 1 0 1 0 0.00 — 0.0
Career · 14 seasons 16 7 48 18 15 2 2 249.0 254 91 69 110 3.29 — 845

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Ben Taylor — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home3112400.364
Away140000.000

Last 4 Games — Batting

Ben Taylor — Last 4 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1927-07-31 BLSHILW 402000000
1927-05-15 BLSCUEW 321000010
1921-06-13 IN4CAGL 400000000
1921-05-09 IN4CB1W 401000010

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Ben Taylor — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 884 519 8144 452 155 400
OF 6 3 2 1 1 0
P 48 1 17 97 11 6

Season-by-Season Fielding

Ben Taylor — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1910 WBS 1B 3 0 15 0 1 1
1910 WBS OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1910 WBS P 3 0 2 11 1 1
1911 SLG 1B 4 0 24 1 0 1
1911 SLG OF 2 0 1 1 0 0
1911 SLG P 8 0 4 13 4 0
1912 WBS 1B 2 0 18 0 2 1
1912 WBS P 1 0 0 3 0 0
1912 NLG P 2 0 0 9 1 0
1913 WBS 1B 8 0 88 4 1 4
1913 CAG 1B 17 0 167 10 3 12
1914 ABC 1B 56 0 598 54 14 22
1914 ABC P 7 0 3 19 4 2
1915 ABC 1B 60 0 639 40 17 30
1915 ABC P 7 0 0 15 1 0
1916 ABC 1B 41 0 448 28 14 27
1916 ABC P 2 0 1 1 0 0
1917 ABC 1B 56 0 563 43 10 31
1917 ABC P 2 0 4 9 0 0
1918 ABC 1B 41 0 406 18 7 22
1918 ABC P 2 0 0 4 0 0
1919 AC 1B 21 21 207 8 2 9
1919 AC P 1 0 0 1 0 0
1920 ABC 1B 72 70 700 41 18 21
1920 ABC OF 2 2 0 0 1 0
1920 ABC P 8 1 3 8 0 3
1921 ABC 1B 88 88 964 53 12 40
1921 ABC P 3 0 0 2 0 0
1922 ABC 1B 79 79 827 41 9 45
1922 ABC OF 1 1 1 0 0 0
1922 ABC P 1 0 0 2 0 0
1923 BBS 1B 2 2 19 1 1 1
1924 WP 1B 60 59 592 23 13 16
1925 HBG 1B 70 0 0 0 0 0
1926 BBS 1B 50 49 470 24 7 23
1926 BBS P 1 0 0 0 0 0
1927 BBS 1B 65 65 618 25 10 39
1928 BBS 1B 57 57 524 23 7 38
1929 ACB 1B 32 29 257 15 7 17

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Ben Taylor (b. 1888) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 48
First Base 884
Center Field 1
Right Field 5

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Ben Taylor (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Dick Lundy
    .327 avg, 49 HR
  2. 90
    John Henry Lloyd HOF
    .344 avg, 29 HR
  3. 74
    Joe Harris
    .317 avg, 47 HR
  4. 67
    Ed Morgan
    .313 avg, 52 HR
  5. 67
    Walter Cannady
    .316 avg, 42 HR
  6. 59
    George Carr
    .316 avg, 56 HR

Compare Ben Taylor

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Taylor's closest peers by position and era.

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Ben Taylor: the record in brief

Ben Taylor's season table begins in 1910, ahead of the August 24, 1912 debut listed in the bio, and the final game as August 23, 1936. The team column moves through the West Baden Sprudels (1910 to 1913), the St. Louis Giants (1911), the New York Lincoln Giants (1912), the Chicago American Giants (1913), the Indianapolis ABCs (1914 through 1922), the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants (1919 to 1929), the Baltimore Black Sox (1923 to 1928), and the Washington Potomacs (1924), among other clubs in the table. At 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, Taylor is listed as a first baseman. The bio says Taylor both batted and threw left-handed. The recorded birth is July 1, 1888, in Anderson, SC, USA. Taylor died on January 24, 1953, in Baltimore, MD, USA.

Taylor collected 1,112 hits in 3,391 at bats across 923 games, good for a .328 batting average, plus 33 homers, 657 runs batted in, and 102 stolen bases. Taylor's career OPS of .845 combines a .392 on-base mark with .453 slugging.

Frequently Asked Questions about Ben Taylor

What years did Ben Taylor play?
Ben Taylor played in Major League Baseball from 1912 to 1936.
Was Ben Taylor a pitcher?
Both. Ben Taylor pitched in 48 games, going 16-7 with a 3.29 ERA, but spent most of his career as a First Baseman.
How many home runs did Ben Taylor hit?
Ben Taylor hit 33 career home runs with 1,112 hits.
Is Ben Taylor in the Hall of Fame?
Yes. Ben Taylor was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
What teams did Ben Taylor play for?
Ben Taylor played for 10 teams: the West Baden Sprudels (1910, 1912–1913), the St. Louis Giants (1911), the New York Lincoln Giants (1912), the Chicago American Giants (1913), the Indianapolis ABCs (1914–1918, 1920–1922), the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants (1919), the Baltimore Black Sox (1923, 1926–1928), the Washington Potomacs (1924), the Harrisburg Giants (1925), and the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants (1929).
What were Ben Taylor's career stats?
In 923 games, Ben Taylor had 1,112 hits, 33 home runs, 657 RBI, 544 runs, and 102 stolen bases, with a .328 batting average. As a pitcher, in 48 games, he went 16-7 with a 3.29 ERA, 110 strikeouts, 249.0 innings pitched, and 2 saves.
What position did Ben Taylor play?
Ben Taylor played primarily as a first baseman, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Ben Taylor and how much did he weigh?
Ben Taylor was listed at 5 feet 11 inches and 175 pounds.
How many home runs did Ben Taylor hit each season?
Ben Taylor's home runs by season: 0 in 1910, 0 in 1911, 0 in 1912, 1 in 1913, 4 in 1914, 1 in 1915, 0 in 1916, 0 in 1917, 2 in 1918, 0 in 1919, 3 in 1920, 2 in 1921, 2 in 1922, 0 in 1923, 4 in 1924, 5 in 1925, 1 in 1926, 2 in 1927, 2 in 1928, and 4 in 1929. His most in one season was 5, in 1925.
What was Ben Taylor's career batting average?
Ben Taylor batted .328 over his career, with 1,112 hits in 3,391 at bats.
How many RBI did Ben Taylor have?
Ben Taylor drove in 657 runs in his career.
What was Ben Taylor's career ERA?
Ben Taylor finished with a 3.29 career ERA, going 16-7 with 110 strikeouts.