Tag Archives: C.I. Taylor

I’m assuming that there are several who are not familiar with C.I. Taylor. While he was not a Birmingham native, Taylor is responsible for starting and managing The Magic City’s first black professional baseball team, the Birmingham Giants, in 1904 (serving as their first manager until 1909). He also served as one-time vice president of the Negro National League. The annual C.I. Taylor Awards are presented by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum to their choices for managers of the year in the American and National Leagues and were given to the Tampa Bay Rays’ Joe Maddon and the Chicago Cubs’ Lou Piniella yesterday.