When Graham Taylor went down with a snapped hamstring, his slide into home plate did also.
“It goes down as one of the worst slides,” Taylor said of the moment captured on video. “They played it on the video board for quite some time. It was a very, very funny video. I try to tell people it wasn’t a slide, it was my (left) hamstring blowing up. It wasn’t funny for me at the time but everybody got a good laugh out of it.”
A pitcher for the Jacksonville Suns, Taylor had gotten his first hit of the 2011 season. The next batter tripled. Taylor was running around third base when the hamstring blew.
“I did a head first tumble into home plate. I scored but it was very painful for me.”
After two knee surgeries and two elbow surgeries throughout his career, Taylor retired from professional baseball in February 2014.
Taylor, who lives in Jacksonville, Fla., is now studying to pass a Series 6 exam so he can work for Principal Financial Group.
Taylor, 30, is coaching a 14U travel baseball team, the Duval Dirtbags, “to help fill that void and pass on the knowledge that was given to me over the years.”
Before retirement he accomplished a dream he had since he was 5 — playing major league baseball. Taylor made his debut for the Miami Marlins against Philadelphia on April 26, 2009. He had three big-league starts before returning to the Marlins’ minor league system. Taylor was 0–2 with no decision.
Facing life without baseball
Tommy John surgery, a procedure meant to reconstruct the ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow, would limit future major league experience.
“It’s scary. I didn’t know if I was going to recover and come back healthy and pitch and be able to be successful to where I was before,” Taylor said. “If that doesn’t happen what do I do? Baseball is the only thing I’ve ever known.”
He turned to prayer. “The Lord has a plan and it’s going to be whatever He has for me and I am going to accept it,” he said. “This is the path He wants me to lead.”
During some prayers Taylor would fervently exclaim, “Please help me. Please give me some advice and strength that I need to get through this.” He was concerned that if he was not able to pitch that no team would want him. Although his wife, Jori, had a job, he was concerned about his ability to financially support his family.
He found a pillar to lean on in his favorite Bible verse — Philippians 4:13.
“If you look, He gives you strength to do whatever you want in life and you turn to Him. Any time I am struggling through anything, I turn to God, to Jesus and I pray. … In everything I do, I try to please Jesus, please God and live through Him,” he said.
When Taylor played for the Suns, a Southern League Double-A affiliate of the Marlins, he and Kyle Skipworth, now a catcher for the Marlins’ Triple-A New Orleans Zephers, coordinated chapel services.
Taylor’s faith helped him persevere, Skipworth said. “He was in the big leagues. He was in the right place at the right time. Unfortunately he had to have Tommy John surgery and a lot of guys tend not to come back from that. You are out of the game an entire year. It can be a big distraction.”
It was when he was in college before Taylor made a decision to accept Christ. He started attending Campus Crusade for Christ at Miami (Ohio) University.
David Franco, an infielder and teammate, was influential in Taylor’s spiritual life.
Franco invited Taylor to his home in Columbus, Ohio. “I met his parents and saw how much love they had for Christ, spreading the world and going to Bible studies,” Taylor said.
Franco would invite Taylor to college Bible studies.
However, it was not until his father, Gary, began having health problems that he truly found interest in Bible study.
A cancerous tumor was found in one of Gary’s kidneys.
“We didn’t know how severe it was,” Taylor said. “When that happened, I really turned to God and I started praying every day. That was the key moment when I turned my life over to God.” Taylor’s dad made a full recovery.
A sports and health management major, Taylor graduated from Miami in 2006. He was a freshman All-American and set the Mid-American Conference record in innings pitched.
The Marlins drafted him in 10th round of the 2006 amateur draft. Throughout his minor league career he played for five different teams and spent the 2009, 2011 and 2012 seasons with Jacksonville. He was a Southern League All-Star in 2009, a Florida State League All-Star in 2008 and South Atlantic League All-Star in 2007.
Throwing strikes
A left-hander, Taylor had an 8–7 record in 2009 with the Suns and struck out 71 batters. In 2011, he went 3.5 with a 4.09 ERA and 62 strikeouts and in 2012 he was 9–11 with a 3.97 ERA with 86 strikeouts. He used his favorite pitch, a change-up, to get many of those outs. He pitched in the 85–88 mph range.
“I am a guy that comes out throwing strikes. That is my strength,” Taylor said.
“I am not going to walk people. I am going to make guys hit the ball and give my defenders a chance to field it and make outs,” he said. “I am not somebody that is going to overpower you. I am going to try to keep you off balance and hit ground balls.”
Playing in the majors was huge he said. “That was my goal; everything that I had strived for. I had played the game since I was 5 years old for that moment. I was so happy.”
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