To all those who might have thought otherwise, former professional baseball player Dr. Ron Taylor shows how intellectual and athletic pursuits can sometimes intersect in the most beautiful way.
This year, Taylor, a U of T graduate and an active member of U of T’s medical community, is among the 29 recipients of the province’s most prestigious honour, the Order of Ontario, for his achievements in sports medicine.
Taylor was awarded the honour last month alongside the fathers of stem cell research, U of T professors emeritus Ernest McCulloch and James Till. “I was just so happy to be amongst these people,” Taylor said.
The busy doctor juggles his family practice-where he starts his day at six a.m.-and working two evenings a week at the S.C. Cooper Sports Medicine Clinic. Taylor helped establish the clinic more than 20 years ago, with the generous financial support of S.C. Cooper, a U of T graduate in civil engineering.
At the clinic, patients of all ages and physical abilities are assessed by Taylor, who works with a team of physiotherapists and an orthopedic surgeon on their sports-related injuries.
The clinic’s mission, as he puts it, is to provide “major-league treatment to the amateur athlete.”
“The motivation for these athletes to get back to their activities is the same as the professional athlete, so they deserve the best treatment that we can give them.”
Taylor’s passion for sports medicine comes naturally to him. An accomplished pro athlete, Taylor played Major League baseball for a decade. In fact, he was the only Canadian pitcher to win a League Championship Series game and the only Canadian to have won two World Series Championships with two different teams.
With such an impressive baseball career, how did Taylor ever manage to graduate from medical school?
While serving in Vietnam, Taylor made the acquaintance of several doctors working at hospitals in war-stricken zones. These encounters spurred his interest in a career in medicine. Taylor fulfilled this goal in 1977, when he graduated from U of T’s Faculty of Medicine and took the title of doctor.
Arguably one of the most educated players in baseball history, he also has a degree in electrical engineering from U of T, where he graduated at the top of his class.
“When my baseball career was over, I wanted to go back to engineering but I found out that my skills were obsolete,” remarked Taylor.
Even today, Taylor’s commitment to education is evident in his sports clinic where medical students interested in rehabilitation medicine come to observe him in action.
Taylor is now in his 28th year as the Toronto Blue Jays’ team doctor, overseeing the medical care of the ballplayers at a general-practitioner level.
What personal qualities helped Taylor achieve such success? According to him, it was as simple as “being focused and stubborn on setting a goal.”
