title: C. I. Taylor
text: Charles Isham Taylor (January 20, 1875 – February 23, 1922) was an American second baseman, manager and executive in Negro league baseball. Born in Anderson, South Carolina, he was the oldest among four sons of a Methodist minister—including Candy Jim, Ben and Johnny—who made a remarkable impact on black baseball.
  
  After serving in the 10th Cavalry during the Spanish–American War in the Philippines, Taylor attended Clark College in Atlanta, Georgia.
  
  In 1904 he started the first black professional baseball team in Birmingham, Alabama, the Birmingham Giants, recruiting from Southern colleges.
  
  In 1914 he became half-owner, along with Thomas Bowser, and manager of the Indianapolis ABCs, and over the next several seasons developed the team into a power rivaled only by Rube Foster's Chicago American Giants.
  
  When World War I drew off many players from his roster, he personally toured Washington, D.C., with them, pointing out the various government institutions and instilling in them a sense of their duty to their nation.
  
  He was also a co-founder and vice president of the Negro National League before his death at age 47 in Indianapolis, Indiana. His widow, Olivia Taylor,  continued to operate the ABC's for three years, with his brother Ben as manager for the first year, before the team folded in 1926.
  
  The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum awards The C.I. Taylor Legacy Award to the best manager of each MLB league annually.
  
  References
  
  Bibliography
   Riley, James A. (1994). The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. New York: Carroll & Graf. .
  
  External links
   and Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats and Seamheads
    and Seamheads
   
  
  Negro league baseball executives
  Birmingham Giants players
  Indianapolis ABCs players
  West Baden Sprudels players
  Negro league baseball managers
  Baseball players from Anderson County, South Carolina
  1875 births
  1922 deaths
  20th-century African-American people
  American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
  Sportspeople from Anderson, South Carolina