John W. “Jack” Taylor (January 14, 1874 – March 4, 1938)
He made his major league debut with the Cubs on September 25, 1898. His best years as a pitcher were 1900 (2.55 earned run average), 1902 (1.33 ERA with 7 shutouts; #1 in the league), 1903 (2.45 ERA), and 1906 (1.99 ERA). His career average was 2.66 ERA.
In 1904, Taylor set a major league record by pitching 39 consecutive complete games. Taylor actually threw 187 consecutive complete games between June 1901 and August 1906, but this streak was interrupted by 15 additional relief appearances. Thus Taylor appeared in 202 consecutive games without being relieved himself.
Taylor and fellow Cub Larry McLean were traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in return for Mordecai Brown and Jack O’Neill in December 1903; he was then traded back to Chicago in July 1906 (in return for Fred Beebe and Pete Noonan).
For the Cardinals, he was 20-19 in 1904 with a 2.22 ERA. He followed that with a 15-21 record the following year and fell to 8-9 in 1906.
“Pitcher Jack Taylor, of St. Louis, says the only thing to make him ever dissatisfied is to be called upon to finish a game that some other pitcher has started and foozled away.” – Sporting Life