Wade Taylor

Wade Eric Taylor

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.
• School Jefferson Davis Community College, University of Miami
• High School Davidson High School (Mobile)
• Debut June 2, 1991
• Final Game September 26, 1991
• Born October 19, 1965 in Mobile, AL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

The Seattle Mariners signed Wade Taylor as an amateur free agent on June 30, 1987. He was sent to the class A Bellingham Mariners for his first look at pro ball and won 3 and lost 5 with a 4.47 ERA. On December 22, 1987, the Mariners traded Wade to the New York Yankees, along with Lee Guetterman and Clay Parker, in return for Steve Trout and Henry Cotto.

Wade was regarded as one of the Yankees' top prospects at that time and no one realized what was to be. In the next four seasons Wade spent time with the Fort Lauderdale Yankees going 4-11, then the class A Prince William Cannons at 9-8, then on to the Albany-Colonie Yankees for a 6-4 record and finally to the International League's Columbus Clippers, again at 6-4.

In 1991 he got his first and only try at the major leagues when the Yankees had him up for a look. Taylor won 7 and lost 12, appearing in 23 outings, pitching 116 innings and coming up with a 6.27 ERA. The Yankees were, for a rare time in team history, a last-place team that year, explaining why a pitcher with Wade's poor results could get to pitch so many innings. He also spent time back with Columbus that season, going 4-1 with a 3.54 ERA.

In 1992 he was with three different clubs but appeared in only 5 contests, pitching 13 innings and registering no wins and 1 loss as he was sidelined by injuries most of the year. In 1993 he was back with Columbus, posting a 3-1 mark in 30 innings with a 4.45 ERA.

There is no information available for him until 2000, when he resurfaced with the Greenville Bluesmen of the independent Texas-Louisiana League. Wade won 1 and lost 4 with a 6.62 ERA and did not pitch professionally afterwards.

Overall, Wade spent eight seasons in professional baseball, both major and minor league, and came up with 43 wins and 51 losses in 127 appearances, pitching 673 innings, allowing 631 base hits and putting up a 3.24 ERA.

After retirement, he became a scout for the Yankees, being present for their World Series titles in 1998, 1999 and 2000. He then worked for the Washington Nationals when they rebuilt their organization following their relocation from Montreal. A few years later, he re-joined former teammate and Yankees coach Don Mattingly when he was named manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers to serve as his advance scout. His last gig was with the Arizona Diamondbacks but he was laid off in 2016 as many teams trimmed their scouting staff in order to devote more resources to their analytics departments. Married with a young daughter, he was forced to take a job with parcel delivery company UPS to make ends meet and had to ask for financial support from the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation, which provides help to former members of the profession who have fallen on hard times. His wife Debbi, a former sideline reporter for the Nationals and producer for ESPN also had to return to work when Wade lost his long-time job, teaching broadcasting at the Dan Patrick school in San Francisco, CA.

Further Reading

• Bob Nightengale: "Yankees pitcher to MLB scout to bench: One man's journey to get back to baseball", USA Today, January 10, 2019. [1]

Related Sites

• Venezuelan League Statistics [2]