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"JT", a HSBBW old timer, passed away this afternoon after a tragic accident in Lynchburg, VA. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers as they cope with his loss.

I don't post often, but read alot, and know that so many of you are friends.

JT passed away while throwing BP on the baseball field at Lynchburg College. He was a kind man, who shared so much knowledge and passion here.
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quote:
Originally posted by Just Yesterday:
"JT", a HSBBW old timer, passed away this afternoon after a tragic accident in Lynchburg, VA. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers as they cope with his loss.

I don't post often, but read alot, and know that so many of you are friends.

JT passed away while throwing BP on the baseball field at Lynchburg College. He was a kind man, who shared so much knowledge and passion here.

I met Jeff last year in Lynchburg. Him and I have been very close. He has been very supportive of my son. Can you please post more details.
Last edited by ClevelandDad
"It seems the older the boys get...the faster the time flies and the less time we have to enjoy their ride."

This is the conclusion of an email I received on 4/20/09 from our wonderful and caring friend, and my DIII sharing cyber parent, JT.
For some reason, I think Jeff's spirit would want his message to be shared.
As I read it, and read CD's post, I am overwhelmed with grief. My thoughts are with Jeff's family in hopes they will find comfort in knowing how much he loved them, and especially with Jeff, Jr. and JT's Dad
Oh my god, I just can't believe it, this is getting to be too much. I just can not imagine how JT junior must be right now.

I am so sad, my heart breaks for his family.

JT, one of the nicest sweetest persons I have met here. His dad is a big Cardinals fan, so he was always inquiring about how DK was doing and a huge fan.

I am at a loss for words.
quote:
Originally posted by deldad:
I can not find the words. My thoughts and prayers go to JT's family. My heart aches for his son.

There are to many angels in heaven tonight.

That was an unbelievably gracious post. My thoughts and prayers continue for you and your family deldad. There are indeed too many angels in heaven this evening cry
I just wish it all would end. I've been trying to find the words for the past hour. As I was just telling a member via Facebook, we don't realize how small a community the game of baseball is until something like this happens.

Here we are people from all over the United States and even from around the world remembering Mr. Taylor tonight because he opened his heart and his life to all of us on this site as many of us do on here each and every day. These communities become tight groups and something like this just tears us all apart.

I just hope this period of tragedy ends soon. I will be headed to bed here soon; I have a feeling I'll cry myself to sleep tonight..
What a terrible loss for the Taylor family and the HSBBW family.

The mention of all the losses we have suffered this spring and last fall, coupled with all the grief expressed reminded me how much we have gained and have grown through the HSBBW community. I am richer for having had so many new friends in my life; even if some have left us way too soon.
My heart aches. My youngest son is a student at Lynchburg in part due to the kind and caring counsel of JT. We shared common ground with our kids and had become more than just a cyber friend.

I am heading to VA next week and had hoped to share a moment with a friend that shared both a passion for his son and to all student athletes.

JT - you are loved, respected and will be missed.
Hello everyone this is Jeff's Bride Mary Clare. Thank you for all your kind thoughts and prayers. Jeff really did get a kick out of all the Karma threads...he amazing me. Our 25th Anniversary will be this June 9th...I still can't believe he won't be here with me to celebrate it. For those who don't know Jeff was throwing BP to Jeffrey this afternoon and a line drive hit him just under his left ear when he turned his head. This will be particularly hard on Jeffrey who is not going to give up on baseball or the dream of being drafted. His baseball comrades will be there for him and me. Thank you for being my husband's friends.

In His Grip, Mary Clare
MC-

JT and I e-mailed everyday. We were in a little group together for about the last 12 years. I just spoke to him this weekend when he called to see how my son's game was going. Brad and Jeffrey are going to be playing together this summer in Martinsville. He will truly be missed. My thoughts and prayers go out to both you and Jeffrey. Your husband was a great man who has touched many lives and will be missed by more people than you will ever know.
Words just don't work here. I left for work around 5:30 this morning, turned on my cell phone, and had the message from Mary Clare. I'm stunned. I too traded e-mails daily with Jeff, sometimes several. He e-mailed me yesterday with thoughts about some work Jeff, Jr. wanted to do on his hitting. He not only kept up with his own son but many others as well ,and was alwasy quick to send congrats on jobs well done.

This was a wonderful man. He loved and adored his family. He was a baseball dad that fully supported his son every step of the way, always wanting only what was best for him. My wife and I were fortunate enough to enjoy dinner with Jeff and Mary Clare when Lynchburg came down to play CNU; we don't often get to meet fellow posters, much less share dinner and conversation, so it was a delight, and now it becomes an even more precious memory.

Jeff was a believer. We talked occasionally about faith journeys and I have no doubt as to exactly where he is right now, and I hope baseball is there.

May God bless Jeff, Jr, Mary Clare, Jeff's family, and his countless friends. He led a good life and made a difference.



Jay

p.s. Jeff posted regularly on d3baseball.com under "A.G." I never did get around to asking him what the heck "A.G." stood for..
quote:
Originally posted by JT:
Hello everyone this is Jeff's Bride Mary Clare. Thank you for all your kind thoughts and prayers. Jeff really did get a kick out of all the Karma threads...he amazing me. Our 25th Anniversary will be this June 9th...I still can't believe he won't be here with me to celebrate it. For those who don't know Jeff was throwing BP to Jeffrey this afternoon and a line drive hit him just under his left ear when he turned his head. This will be particularly hard on Jeffrey who is not going to give up on baseball or the dream of being drafted. His baseball comrades will be there for him and me. Thank you for being my husband's friends.

In His Grip, Mary Clare

Mary Clare - my very deepest condolences. Jeff was one of my very best friends on the planet. We communicated all the time about many things.

One of his loves was music (like mine) and he started the American Idol thread in the Oh/Ky/Pa/Wv forum where many of our members enjoyed chatting on a weekly basis.

When Jeffery got into the Southern Collegiate League last year and then the Coastal Plains, I shared every secret I knew with Jeff to help Jeffery transition from aluminum to wood. Obviously, Jeffery figured things out quite nicely.

Just a few short days ago, he let me know that Lynchburg had been defeated in the playoffs. My suggestion was to get Jeffery working with wood every day to give him a leg up on his competition. Here was Jeff's reply to my suggestion and the last thing he privately said to me:
quote:
That is EXACTLY the plan. Get him into tip-top shape and swing the wood like its no tomorrow! Last year he had less than two weeks to prepare and took it easy...now he knows.

Good luck to the Coastal...looks like a big showdown for first place on the horizon for next weekend!

Jeff went to high school with my son's college coach - Coach Gilmore and he knew him well. I will call the coach this morning to let him know what happened.

It is no consolation that Jeff died doing what he loved to do - to see his son make it to the big leagues. I shared the same dream with him. He will be dearly missed cry

Dan
Last edited by ClevelandDad
quote:
Originally posted by JT:
Hello everyone this is Jeff's Bride Mary Clare. Thank you for all your kind thoughts and prayers. Jeff really did get a kick out of all the Karma threads...he amazing me. Our 25th Anniversary will be this June 9th...I still can't believe he won't be here with me to celebrate it. For those who don't know Jeff was throwing BP to Jeffrey this afternoon and a line drive hit him just under his left ear when he turned his head. This will be particularly hard on Jeffrey who is not going to give up on baseball or the dream of being drafted. His baseball comrades will be there for him and me. Thank you for being my husband's friends.

In His Grip, Mary Clare


Mary Clare, I am so very sorry for your family and friends' loss. JT was a very positive voice and influence on so many. He did make a difference, as someone said. His glass was always half full. Mine is bone dry right now.
quote:
Jeff was throwing BP to Jeffrey this afternoon and a line drive hit him just under his left ear when he turned his head. This will be particularly hard on Jeffrey


My deepest sympathies go out and I think we all need to say an extra prayer for Jeff Jr. I can't imagine how that young man is feeling right now and hope and pray he is able to find a way to deal with this.
quote:
Originally posted by Orlando:
Mary Clare, my heart goes out to you and your son. You know that Jeff's spirit resides, in part, right here and that this community will always be there to support your and Jeff Jr's journey.

Absolutely!!

Isn't it striking at the posts from all of us who considered JT a genuine friend. I guess not that striking when you think about who Jeff was. The lives he touched! Last night I posted and shared from the keyboard of a Toshiba laptop. A laptop I purchased a couple months ago. A laptop that JT helped me purchase through his advice and links. JT appeared to have time for everyone - no matter how big or how insignificant the need.
While not knowing Jeff, I am also saddened by this. Whenever we lose someone it is difficult and we ask why. One thing I know is that on here we are all in the same frame of mind and share the same life as JT, so it affects us all in a deeply personal way.

My prayers go out to Mary Clare and Jeffrey and to all the family. May the Lord comfort you and keep you in this time of sorrow. May He provide a quiet assurance of his love He has for you and that Jeff is with Him today.
quote:
Originally posted by hokieone:

Jeff was a believer. We talked occasionally about faith journeys and I have no doubt as to exactly where he is right now, and I hope baseball is there.

May God bless Jeff, Jr, Mary Clare, Jeff's family, and his countless friends. He led a good life and made a difference.
..


and in that I draw my comfort and I pray yours.........my sincere condolences to all...
Last edited by piaa_ump
quote:
Originally posted by piaa_ump:
quote:
Originally posted by hokieone:

Jeff was a believer. We talked occasionally about faith journeys and I have no doubt as to exactly where he is right now, and I hope baseball is there.

May God bless Jeff, Jr, Mary Clare, Jeff's family, and his countless friends. He led a good life and made a difference.
..



and in that I draw my comfort and I pray yours.........my sincere condolences to all...


Amen. May God comfort you all at this time,
The article referenced on the first page (in the Lynchburg newspaper) has been updated. There is also a picture of Jeff provided by Liberty University. Adding the link again so no one has to go searching.

For those of you near Lynchburg, heard from the team that a viewing will be held on Friday night from 6 - 8pm with the funeral Saturday morning at 10:00am. I'm sure the details and locations will be in the same newspaper this link takes you too.

Lynchburg News Advance

Still so shocked and saddened by this absolute tragedy.
I have read JT's post on this forum for years, so even though I didn't know him, I feel like I knew him. I truly feel for Jeff Jr. and his mother. My sincere condolences to the entire family.

With all the hours spent at the ballfield, a special relationship develops between a player and his father. There isn't a player or father out there who doesn't share the emotion of what is must be a surreal reality for the Taylor family. What a freak accident. I just hope Jeff Jr. will continue to play... I'm sure his dad would want him to continue.

Doesn't matter if you're doing something you love ...with someone you love (such as pitching BP to your son) or sick with a terminal illness....when the Lord calls you to His Home...it's time to go Home. We can't understand why or how something like this can happen, but God is in control and he will provide a way to survive even this. May God strengthen this family and bring them peace in their spirit...peace that passes understanding.
Mary Clare,
Thank you. A dear poster had given me your address. I appreciate your info and I imagine others will also appreciate your email so they may check on you all. I'll be in touch and you're in my prayers.
Charlotte

Edit: Mary Clare, I'm going to have your post edited and your phone number removed because of safety purposes. I'll leave your email, but it's probably best to not share the phone number with cyber world.
Last edited by lafmom
Here is one of the greatest tributes to fathers, sons, and baseball that I have ever read. People wonder sometimes why baseball is so important around here. It is important because it is about so much more than baseball.

http://www.newsadvance.com/lna...ough_baseball/15578/

The link is a little slow and sometimes needs refreshed to come up properly. Here is a copy of the article - RIP Jeff!!

quote:
By Dave Thompson

Published: April 29, 2009

LU professor, son bonded through baseball

Jeff Taylor Sr. had been throwing batting practice for his son since Jeff Jr. was in youth league in Asheville, N.C. The two practiced together through the younger Taylor’s junior year at Lynchburg College.

Taylor Sr.’s widow, Mary Clare Taylor, recalled on Wednesday the circumstances surrounding her husband’s tragic death this week.

Father and son were having just such a batting practice on Tuesday afternoon at Lynchburg College’s Fox Field, she said, when a line drive hit her husband near his jaw or throat area, and he collapsed on the pitcher’s mound.

Taylor was pronounced dead shortly thereafter at Lynchburg General Hospital.

“I received the phone call at 3:35 at work,” Mary Taylor said.

“After he got hit and Jeffrey ran up there,” she said, “he said he was OK, but then his eyes rolled back. So his son, my son, was actually trying to do CPR.”

Taylor Sr., 44, an assistant professor of health sciences and kinesiology at Liberty University, was in the process of working on his doctorate in education from Liberty, his wife said, and always had been an avid baseball fan.

Taylor Sr.’s feelings about baseball manifested themselves in most aspects of his life, his wife said, down to the family dog’s name — “Slider McGwire VonRyan,” named after a type of pitch, slugger Mark McGwire and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan.

“I’m not a die-hard baseball mom, but I do try,” she said.

“I will freeze to death out there watching Jeffrey,” she added, “but I wouldn’t do it if it weren’t for him.”

Her husband and son were practicing so her son wouldn’t get rusty before he started playing summer ball with the Martinsville Mustangs, a summer collegiate baseball team.

“My son, who is a go-getter, didn’t want to get lazy,” she said, “so they were throwing batting practice yesterday.”

Four other Lynchburg College players also had been on the field that day, said LC Vice President John Eccles in an e-mail to faculty, staff and students at the college Wednesday. He did not identify the players.

Eccles said college emergency workers were the first on the scene and administered CPR to Taylor.

Lynchburg emergency crews transported Taylor to Lynchburg General Hospital.

“Lynchburg College sends its deepest condolences to the Taylor family in the wake of this accident,” the e-mail read, adding that counseling is available to the LC community.

Eccles said LC baseball coach Percy Abell knew Taylor Sr. from interaction with him at the college’s baseball games.

“He was at every game,” Eccles said. “Coach Abell said he was at most practices. He was an enthusiastic supporter, just loved baseball.”

Taylor said her husband passed that love on to their son, through his earliest experiences in the game.

“Once he did his first official year of little league when he was 6, he was hooked.”

When the younger Taylor was in fourth grade, in Asheville, his mother said, he used to shag fly balls on occasion with Baltimore Orioles third baseman Ty Wiggington, then playing for the University of North Carolina Asheville, where her husband was the head trainer.

Her son’s fate, she said, was pretty much decided even before he knew what baseball was.

“He had seven baseball outfits within a month of being born.”

Mary Taylor said she remembers a string of major life events intertwined with baseball.

“My 40th birthday was on a baseball field. Our 15th anniversary happened on the baseball field, our kid turned 11,” she said, all within about two weeks of each other.

The couple would have celebrated their 25th anniversary in June.

James Nutter, an associate professor of English at Liberty, heads up the school’s quiz bowl program on which Taylor Sr. participated last year, as a graduate student.

“We had a quiz bowl scrimmage between the varsity team and the faculty,” Nutter said, noting Taylor was one of the first to respond.

“He just loved it so much, and he was so good,” Nutter said. “He had a photographic memory, and just knew every type of sports trivia imaginable.”

Liberty Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. addressed students at Liberty’s convocation Wednesday, saying Liberty had lost a “great professor.”

“We just need to remember that family in our prayers,” he said.

Falwell said Tuesday night that he received a call from Lynchburg College President Kenneth Garren after the accident, notifying him of Taylor’s death.

Taylor, Falwell said, was leader of the student group known as the LUnatics, and was loved by many students.

By Wednesday evening, dozens of well-wishers had posted comments to the Liberty sports-fan Web site http://www.flamefans.com.

Liberty students also painted the “Spirit Rock” on campus in memory of Taylor.

“He obviously touched more lives than I was ever aware of,” said Mary Taylor.

Visitation for Jeff Taylor Sr. is set for 6 to 8 p.m. Friday.

Heritage United Methodist Church will hold a service at 10 a.m. Saturday, Mary Taylor said.

Last edited by ClevelandDad
I invite everyone to read this link on the DIII baseball blogspot about Jeff and his passion for his family, life, and baseball.
It includes a beautiful picture of Jeff, Mary Clare and Jeff, Jr.

http://www.d3sports.com/dailyd...y-of-jeff-taylor-sr/

As JT told me in his last email, "a Dad's/coaches work is never done." When you read this link, I think you might agree that JT's work isn't done, it is just being completed from a different place.
Last edited by infielddad
Mary Clare and Jeff, Jr.
When you happen to check the HSBBW and this thread, please know we have all been thinking of you today.
While we could not be there in person today, we were/are with you.
As I posted before, thank you for sharing Jeff with us and thank you for letting him share his love for you, for life, and for baseball with us.
Here is another link that was started on the Liberty Flames fans message board. It starts with the first terrible news of Jeff's accident and then later on provides some personal accounts of Jeff's funeral and memorial - needless to say, baseball was featured prominently at Jeff's funeral... Both Jeff Jr. and Mary Clare were able to speak at the memorial and by all accounts it was very moving...

http://flamefans.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12676

Here is but one of the anecdotes from the thread:
quote:
I was in line by 6:15 pm, and the wait to get in was at least a full hour. They had a PowerPoint of pictures going, everything from black & whites when Jeff was a little boy, to college pics when Jeff had some 1970s hair, wedding photos where I swear Jeff and I had the same mid-'80s white tux (with matching shoes), to team pics of Jeff coaching his son in Little League, to even a Quiz Bowl pic we took standing with a statue of the Hokie bird at Virginia Tech...

In Jeff's casket were 2 baseball bats--one wooden & one aluminum, a very worn baseball glove, an autographed baseball from somebody's grand slam (I'm guessing his son's), batting gloves, and a pencil drawing of Christ on the cross dated 1973.

The Pittsburgh Pirates apparently found out about this terrible tragedy and sent representatives out of respect... shows how big of heart baseball people have...
Last edited by ClevelandDad

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