On his first Friday in May without an official baseball responsibility in some time, Chris Taylor still managed to carry a bat – a Wiffle ball bat.
“I took my 2-year-old to the park, and we played,” Taylor said late last month.
Taylor is a recently unemployed father of two young boys. A member of the University of Virginia Baseball Hall of Fame, he announced his retirement from Major League Baseball on May 24 after 12 seasons.
No matter the uniform, Taylor leaves a legacy. The UVA Baseball Hall of Famer went on to become an All-Star and a National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player with the Dodgers. (Virginia Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers photos)
Taylor’s sons – 2-year-old Theo and 6-month-old Koa – will one day be old enough to appreciate their father’s accomplishments. At his peak, Taylor was an All-Star and a National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He helped the storied franchise capture World Series titles in 2020 and 2024.
Theo, though, still got a thrill watching his dad play this season for the Utah-based AAA affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels, the Salt Lake Bees.
“He got a Salt Lake Bees hat,” Taylor said. “So, in his mind, the Bees were, like, the team. He’d walk around and say, ‘I play for the Bees,’ and my wife would stream the games for him back in California. He loved it.”
Taylor has long made a habit of creating lasting memories for whoever’s watching him play.
On June 13, 2011 – 15 years ago this week – he whipped some 5,000 Cavalier fans at then-Davenport Field into a frenzy with his iconic two-out, two-run, walk-off single that propelled the Wahoos past the University of California, Irvine, and into the College World Series.
A desire to spend more time with family drove Taylor to retire. Playing baseball at a high level comes with great sacrifice. The demands can be grueling.
But the rewards, like etching your place in UVA lore with one swing of the bat, can be euphoric.
“When I look back at my career,” Taylor said, “I think of moments, like the highlights that made it all worth it. And that’s definitely one of them.”
Taylor’s signature hit in a Cavalier uniform caused a wild dogpile and, a few days later, a trip to Omaha, Nebraska, for a chance to compete for an NCAA championship. Taylor, however, remembers what happened before the chaos.
The shortstop had made a defensive miscue in the previous half-inning that led to UC Irvine taking the lead.
“I came in the dugout, and I threw my glove,” Taylor said. “I remember (then-UVA head coach Brian O’Connor) coming up to me and telling me, ‘You need to stay locked in, we’re going to need you.’
“And then, sure enough, I came up in that situation and came through, luckily.”
[Announcer speaking]
The pitch … bouncing ball, it’s up the middle, it leaks through! It’s into center field – we’re all tied!
They’re going to wave him around, he slides in! It’s over! Virginia wins in the bottom of the ninth inning! A dog-pile … Wahoowa, we’re going back to Omaha!
[Crowd Cheers]
Taylor’s reputation as a clutch player only grew in the big leagues. He’s one of 12 players in MLB history to hit three home runs in a single postseason game, a feat he accomplished in the National League Championship Series against the Atlanta Braves on Oct. 21, 2021.
An MLB.com story referred to Taylor as “one of the most important figures of the Dodgers’ run of excellence that began in the 2010s.”
The same could be said for his legacy at UVA, a program with the second-most College World Series appearances in the sport since 2009.
Taylor, an environmental sciences major, has stayed connected to his alma mater. His significant financial contribution a few years ago led to the creation of the Chris Taylor Performance Center, an expanded weight room in the bowels of Disharoon Park.
