Tony Taylor the Hero in Phillies’ Victory over Braves

June 30, 1965 - Second baseman Tony Taylor (pictured), one of the Phillies’ forgotten men in recent weeks, started his first game in 10 days today at Connie Mack Stadium and wound up as one of the game’s brightest stars.

The Cuban speedster scored the game’s first run in the first inning and snapped a tie by driving home the winning run in the seventh with a single to center that gave the Phils a 3-2 victory over the Braves before 17,771.

Taylor had to share the hero’s role with rookie Gary Wagner, who did another fine relief job to win the game after starter Jim Bunning had to leave when his injured right ankle bothered him.

Wagner came on at the start of the sixth, gave up just one hit, walked two, and struck out four to win his third game against two defeats. The lone hit was an opposite-field homer by Milwaukee pitcher Wade Blasingame that tied the score in the seventh after the Phillies had taken a 2-1 lead in the sixth.

“Wagner was in the category of ‘maybe’ in spring training,” Phillies manager Gene Mauch said. “He had [pitching coach Cal] McLish going for him. ‘Stay with him,’ Cal would say. ‘He’ll show you something.’ Well, he has.”

Wagner was 24 on Monday. He took a correspondence course in zoology this spring, and his idea of a big time on the road is watching television.

“I’m not a Bo Belinsky,” he said. “Adventure is out there on the field. You don’t get paid to have a good time away from the game.”

Mauch wouldn’t care if Wagner took correspondence courses in bacteriology and wrote poetry on the side. Mauch knows he can pitch now, and so does Wagner. 

Regarding Blasingame’s homer, Wagner said: “Before the inning, [catcher Pat] Corrales warned me that he’s a good hitter. He hit a 2-2 fastball, away and outside. I was supposed to jam him with it. It’s a cardinal sin for a pitcher to hit a homer.”

However, winning covers a multitude of sins, and winning is what the Phillies have been doing.

Today’s triumph was the Phils’ fourth in a row and the 15th in their last 21 games. Coupled with the Cardinals’ victory over Pittsburgh, the win moved the Phillies into a virtual tie for fourth place in the National League standings.

The Braves, Phillies, and Pirates are now all 5½ games behind the first-place Dodgers.

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