After Brien Taylor made his Minor League debut he told the media, "In high school nobody ever got on base so I've got some adjusting to do!". That was the start to the career of the next Dwight Gooden. Taken as the first overall choice in the 1991 draft, few pitchers in the early 1990s had a sunnier future than Brien Taylor. After he struck out an amazing 476 batters in 239 innings in high school at Beaufort, North Carolina, and went 29-6 with a 1.25 ERA, the New York Yankees made Taylor their first pick overall in the 1991 draft for a then-record bonus of $1.55 million. He was going to be the start of a new class of Yankee Greats.
His main rookie cards were the 92 Topps and the 92 Stadium Club Dome. His first actual card was released by Classic in the Classic 91 Draft Picks set in 1991. This was noteworthy because he signed an exclusive contract with Classic whereby he agreed to only appear on Classic cards until 1992. This was the first exclusive of its time and people feared future "incomplete" card sets where major league stars only appeared in certain sets (the MLB Association eventually would not allow this). This exclusive contract also caused some controversy because Topps made cards of Taylor in 1991, however did not issue those cards until January 1992. Was this going against the exclusive contract? Well, the Topps card stayed in packs and it was a very popular card.(See Card Below)
After signing the record contract, Taylor suffered a shoulder injury in a bar fight early in his career and had to have reconstructive shoulder surgery. His 99 mile an hour fastball was gone and was eventually released from the Yankees minor league team in 1998. In January of 1999, he was signed by the Seattle Mariners where he was released before ever pitching an actual game for the Mariners (only pitched in spring training). He pitched in five games for the Cleveland Indians' Class A Columbus team in 2000, allowing eight runs in 2 2/3 innings. He has since then retired. He never pitched in a Major League game.
