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Saturday, August 20, 2011

Daily Conlon: 208 through 216

Here are today's Daily Conlon cards numbered 208 through 216. Be sure to click on any of the pics to embiggen. It features longtime Dodger catcher Zach Taylor on the top row, far right.

He came up with the Dodgers in 1920 and stuck around in Brooklyn til 1925. He would then return to the borough in 1935 for his very last Major League season. From there, he would enter into a new part of his Baseball career as coach and manager and become tangentially connected to some of Baseball's wackiest events.

For 4 seasons he would man the St. Louis Browns under the guidance of master promoter Bill Veeck. It would be during this time he would become tied to Baseball folklore. In 1951 he sent up a 3 feet and 7 inch pinch hitter Eddie Gaedel up to the plate against Bob Cain of the Detroit Tigers. As the description of the back of the card says, "batting in a low crouch, Eddie walked on 4 pitches."

Then, seven days after the Gaedel fiasco Taylor willingly participated in another Veeck gimmick. The Browns passed around placards to the crowd with various game instructions printed on them like, swing, take, bunt, etc. -to allow fans to make managerial decisions for the afternoon. A poll would be taken and Zach Taylor dutifully follow suit. The Browns would win that game.