Waldstein: A silent link between the Giants and Kansas City
From David Waldstein at the New York Times on October 22, 2014:
A Giant is buried in Kansas.
Baldwin City, Kan., is a mere 50 miles from Kauffman Stadium, the home of the American League champion Kansas City Royals. It is where Luther Taylor, who was known as Dummy Taylor, was buried in 1958, the year his former team, the Giants, began play in San Francisco after moving from the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan.
Taylor was a pioneering pitcher, a colorful and charismatic character who could neither hear nor speak but who could throw a baseball with expertise. He helped the Giants win their first World Series of the modern baseball era, in 1905; bridged a gap between hearing and nonhearing athletes; and remains a unique link between Kansas City and the Giants.
Through Taylor’s participation on the Giants from 1900 to 1908, many of his teammates learned to sign, and Taylor kept them laughing — and sometimes winning — for much of his career.
“He stands as an inspiration to many people,” said Sandra Kelly, a former teacher and principal at the Kansas State School for the Deaf, where Taylor starred on the baseball team and later coached, in Olathe (pronounced Oh-LAY-tha), a city 20 miles southwest of downtown Kansas City, Mo. “It’s pretty clear from the stories how much his teammates loved and respected him.”
Read the full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/sports/baseball/world-series-2014-a-silent-link-between-the-giants-and-kansas-city.html
Originally published: October 22, 2014. Last Updated: October 22, 2014.