Hawk Taylor
From The Met Wiki
Robert Dale "Hawk" Taylor was a catcher for the Mets from 1964 to 1967. He played in 183 games with the team, hitting 11 homers and driving in 49 runs. Taylor also spent some time at first base and in left field.
Taylor came to the Mets after five seasons with the Milwaukee Braves. In 1964, he had 52 hits and 20 runs scored. In his first game as a Met on April 14, Hawk hit a two-run single in a 5-3 loss at Philadelphia. Against the Phillies at Shea Stadium on June 20, he had two singles, two homers and four RBIs in the Mets' 7-3 win. Taylor hit a three-run homer off Sandy Koufax in the Mets' 5-3 loss to the Dodgers at Shea on July 30. He also hit a two-run homer and scored the winning run in a 3-2 Mets victory over the Colt .45s at Shea on August 1.
The 1965 season was a tough one for Taylor. He batted .152 in 25 games before spending the rest of the year at AAA-level Buffalo. On May 23, Hawk hit two-run homers off Cardinal pitchers Ray Sadecki and Ron Taylor in the Mets' 8-7 loss at St. Louis. He went hitless in his next 18 at bats before getting a single off Koufax on June 12 at Shea. After a doubleheader the following day, Taylor was sent to the minors.
Hawk had a part-time role with the Mets in 1966, appearing in 53 games and collecting 19 hits. He hit a two-run double in the ninth inning in the Mets' 7-6 victory at Los Angeles on May 29. On June 13, Taylor hit a three-run homer off Al Jackson in the Mets' 5-2 win over the Cardinals at Shea. He hit the Mets' first ever pinch-hit grand slam in an 8-7 comeback win over the Pirates at Shea on August 17. In the ninth inning at San Francisco on September 16, Hawk hit a two-out single to drive in the tying run before the Mets scored twice more to grab a 5-4 win over the Giants.
In 1967, Taylor had 37 at bats as a Met. In his final game with the team on July 13, he had a run-scoring double at Cincinnati. Hawk was traded to the California Angels for minor leaguer Don Wallace on July 24. He finished his career with the Kansas City Royals in 1970.
