Born in Toronto, he was a relief pitcher over all or parts of 11 seasons (1962–1972) in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, New York Mets and San Diego Padres.

But in the 12th inning of the scoreless tie, Taylor loaded the bases with no out, then surrendered a game-deciding, walk-off grand slam home run to Carroll Hardy and was charged with the 4–0 defeat.

[2] Although the five-year-old Mets remained a second-division team in both 1967 and 1968, Taylor enjoyed two sparkling campaigns coming out of the New York bullpen, with 22 saves in 108 total relief appearances and a composite ERA of 2.47.

Taylor formed half of a formidable bullpen duo with left-hander Tug McGraw, leading the club in games pitched (59) and saves (13), winning nine of 13 decisions, and posting an effective 2.72 earned run average during the regular season.

He then pitched 31⁄3 innings of scoreless relief in the 1969 National League Championship Series against the Atlanta Braves, allowing just three hits in his two appearances, and gaining credit for a victory in Game 2.

Thus, in his four career World Series games, Taylor allowed no hits and only two bases on balls in seven full innings, with five strikeouts, and faced the minimum of 21 hitters.

He was good defensively; Taylor made only three errors in 169 total chances for a .982 fielding percentage, which was 27 points higher than the league average at his position.

After his playing career ended in 1972, Taylor entered medical school at the University of Toronto, having been inspired to do so after visiting field hospitals while on a USO goodwill tour during the Vietnam War.