From the pitcher's mound to the world of medicine

For Blue Jays fans, images of the back-to-back World Series championships are still vivid.

There was the near triple play in the ’92 Atlanta Braves series, denied by a call. Roberto Alomar’s golden glove. The lightning speed of Devon White. Joe Carter’s walk-off home run to clinch the ’93 title.

As the team’s physician, University of Toronto alumnus Ron Taylor saw them all — from the bench.

But those weren’t the first championship games he’d seen. Before swinging into a mid-life career in medicine, Taylor pitched in the major leagues.

“I threw hard and low to the ground, so I got a lot of ground balls and strikeouts,” says Taylor, who started with the Cleveland Indians in 1962.

Over his 16-year career, the right-hander tossed for the Houston Astros and San Diego Padres, and faced off against batters in two World Series matchups — with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964 and the New York Mets in 1969. In four World Series relief appearances, Taylor — known for his signature sinker-slider pitch — didn’t give up a single hit.

It was around the 500-game mark that Taylor decided to swap his mitt for the stethoscope. Though he had a U of T engineering degree from 1961, Taylor wanted to explore a career in medicine. At first, the Faculty of Medicine’s associate dean thought Taylor was a little old for med school.

“He asked what I had been doing and didn’t seem to have any idea what baseball was,” jokes Taylor, now 75.  But when he presented his straight As in engineering, the administrator guided him into the necessary pre-med courses.

Taylor focused on sports medicine during his internship, becoming an MD in 1977. Several years later it was only natural for the Blue Jays to hire him as team doctor.

After 35 years with the team, the father of two retired from the Jays organization last year, but remains a consultant.

He still runs a family practice in Toronto and works at Mount Sinai Hospital’s S.C. Cooper Sports Medicine Clinic, which he helped found in 1980.

“There’s no substitute for passion, whatever you do," says Taylor. "I was focused as a ball player, I was focused as an engineer, and I became focused as a doctor.”

Check out this story and more in the Spring 2013 issue of U of T Medicine Magazine.