Tony Taylor was one of the most popular Phillies players

Dec. 19: On this day in 1935, former major leaguer Antonio "Tony" Taylor was born in Central Alava, Matanzas, Cuba.

Taylor, who played with the Cubs, Phillies and Tigers in 19 major-league seasons from 1958-76, was elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

Taylor played for Marianao in 1954-55 and '55-56. He's shown in the above photo -- second from left, with teammates, including Minnie Miñoso -- which had been a part of Latino Baseball's 100 Years of Caribbean Baseball photo gallery.

After two seasons with the Tigres, Taylor played five seasons with Almendares between 1956-61.

According to Who's Who in Cuban Baseball, 1878-1961, Taylor three times led the Cuban League in triples, in batting average once (.303 in 1958-59) and in stolen bases once (22 in 1960-61).

In the majors, Taylor batted .261 for his career while compiling 234 stolen bases. After retiring he served as an assistant coach for the Phillies and Marlins and was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2002.