'Rilla-pedia -or- Where Have You Gone, Tyrone Taylor?

Tyrone Taylor ('94-'98)

Softball
Taylor was an orginal Gorilla, and the founder of the '96 team name "Paul's Botique" (a Beastie Boys album.) He was a slick fielding 1st baseman with the ability to play 2nd and a penchant for hitting oppo-handed at any time. But most importantly he was the "Mayor" (Sean Casey-esque) of the pre-gorillas.

1994-'98 were some lean years for the team. A three win season was considered a success. The constant losing made some players dickheads... and yah, I'm lookin at you Snyder! Oh, shit I'm writing this! Correction: I'm lookin at you Baumgart! Taylor, who by the way looks like Tony Parker (Eva!!), was the calming influence in the dugout. Everyone liked him. When certain left-center fielders short-stops would start acting like an ass he would break it down Zen style. "D Jeff, It's just a game and no matter what we're going to drink some beer afterwards." Those kind of calming quotes kept this team from imploding.

Personal
Taylor was the x factor in the infancy of the RILLAS. He started at Northside BuyLow when it opened. Stokes, Baumgart, Bultman, Perigo, Fleming, (Daniel) North, McGrew, and Baggett (all future Gorillas) worked there and he was my best friend so we all connected. (An aside: Taylor was a damn near genius. He has a 154 IQ! I've known him since I was 5 and we took some test in the 6th grade. I'm sure his year as a Pre-rilla dropped some points, but the dude was smart.)

Today
Taylor is married with a couple of kids and is a Buy Low manager. I saw him at a wiffle ball reunion in June. There had to be over 100 people in attendance and once again Taylor was the genius (that never changes), the mayor (everyone loved him), and my best friend. Tyrone Taylor was a true Gorilla!

Where Have You Gone, Joe Dimaggio?

Its' Sunday and I'm drinking (hooray Sunday!). So naturally, I'm waxing nostalgic about the Glory Days that have passed me by.

Man, I swear back in 94 when this started I was really good looking, really good at softball and had a really big penis. (That's the way I remember it - no corrections please.)

This got me thinking about former "Gorillas", or as they were called in the pre-modern era former "Bayside Tigers", "Pauls Botiquers" or "Dead Squirrels".

So I'm going to try and start a new segment for this site "Where Are They Now?", with the disclaimer: I have a short attention span, little motivation, and no work ethic, so this may be as far as it goes.

Every week or so I will feature a former player and his history with the club and what he is up to now. Next weeks feature will be Tyrone Taylor (94-97), a founding father. (It was a car ride home from a wiffle ball tourney with Baggs, Baumgart, Taylor and myself that started this shit.) I hope to throw down a couple of stories about what made (or what didn't make) these guys Gorilla material, and what they are doing these days or at least some stories about their days in Rillaville. I'm hoping to shed some light on the history of the team... you know, from back when JT was breast feeding and Beans was just hitting puberty.