As Michael A. Taylor left the field for a defensive replacement in the ninth inning, he was met with a standing ovation from the fans at Nationals Park.
It was one of several tributes from Nationals fans after Taylor announced his retirement before the game—likely marking his final appearance on a Major League field. Taylor told reporters the decision had been made months earlier, following long conversations with his wife, Brianna. In the end, he said, the choice came down to spending more time at home with his family.
Taylor picked a fitting spot to call it quits.
Washington, D.C, was a place Taylor called home for seven years. After getting selected by the Nationals in the sixth round of the 2009 Draft, he began his MLB career with the Nationals in 2014.
Taylor spent the first seven years of his career in Washington, which included winning a World Series title in 2019. In his lone World Series at-bat in Game 2 against the Astros, he homered. But after two years in Kansas City, followed by stops in Minnesota, Pittsburgh, and the South Side of Chicago, the 34-year-old decided to call it a career.
Taylor went out on a high note, going 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI en route to an 8-0 White Sox victory to cap off the 2025 season.
His final at-bat came in the eighth inning with Lenyn Sosa standing on third base. After hitting a ground ball to shortstop to bring home Sosa and extend the lead to 8-0, Taylor received applause from the hometown fans, some of whom were wearing his jersey as he walked back to the dugout.
White Sox manager Will Venable described Taylor as a “quiet leader” who helped develop the “fabric of culture” in the White Sox locker room.
“He made me better. He made the players better. He elevated everything that we did, from the way we communicated, our meetings. He was the one that really took charge in helping us define our non-negotiables and helped hold guys accountable,” Venable told MLB.com.
Taylor was brought in as a depth piece and quietly put together a solid season for the White Sox. While he batted just 200 with a .625 OPS, he came through with some big hits for the White Sox. Most notable was when he laced a two-run double at Target Field on September 3rd that came when the White Sox were trailing the Twins 3-2 in the ninth inning and down to their last out.
Taylor also bolstered the White Sox with his glove, posting 3 Outs Above Average and a Fielding Run Value that ranked in the 68th percentile among MLB outfielders.
He closes out his 12-year career with a .232/.288/.379 slash line, totaling 807 hits, 109 home runs, 388 RBIs, and 128 stolen bases. He recorded 59 hits, nine homers, and eight steals during his lone season with the White Sox.
“I don’t want to get emotional, but with it being my last year, I think I couldn’t have asked for a better group,” Taylor told reporters when announcing his retirement on Sunday. “It’s a younger group, but these guys are really just good baseball players, and even better guys. And I’ve enjoyed every second of it.”
