From North River to New York and back: Brien Taylor shares his incredible story with Paper Boys Podcast
from the Paper Boys and their Podcast:ZACK NALLY & J.J. SMITH May 9, 2025
And coming in from the Carteret County Times-News/CarolinaCoastOnline
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from GreensboroSports.com
(Brien Taylor came through Greensboro at least twice back in the early 1990s and he was a member of the Greensboro Bats baseball team, that played in the old War Memorial Stadium, on Yanceyville at Lindsey Streets…Brien Taylor had signed that Million-Dollar plus bonus when he hooked up with the New York Yankees out of high school down there in Beaufort, N.C., at East Carteret High School, and many observers felt he one of the finest baseball pitchers they had ever seen, and that Brien Taylor would be a can’t-miss for the Baseball Hall of Fame, on day….But there came a few bumps in the road…
There was a bar fight after he had success with the NY Yankees upper level farm teams, and that fight came in December, during the off-season…Taylor hurt his shoulder bad, during the fight, in which he was protecting his brother, but the damage was done…
Taylor tried to rehab the arm, but it and he were never the same…He came through Greensboro, not once-but twice, and each time on the sports radio show we did back then, we would call it “Brien Taylor Night”, at the old War Memorial Stadium…But each time Taylor joined the Bats, the opposing team’s bats were crushing Brien Taylor, and in the end, Brien Taylor never really found his way to New York and did not ever get to experience wearing the Yankees’ pinstripes….
Brien Taylor was in Greensboro, but for some reason, after that fight, Baseball was never really in the works for Brien Taylor again…It was all over but the shouting…He was NEVER the same dominant pitcher again, bringing the ball to the plate, at 97 miles per hour/MPH….
See ALL below, on how Brien Taylor tried to make it to “The Show”, but it was never on go for the young man, who was a short-lived pro, in the game of baseball)…..
Now back to the Paper Boys from their Podcast…..
BEAUFORT — In 1991, Brien Taylor was on top of the world.
The East Carteret southpaw was the most electrifying high school baseball prospect in a generation, throwing 98 miles per hour with effortless grace, striking out 476 hitters in 239 1/3 innings and drawing scouts from every Major League Baseball club to Beaufort.
That summer, the New York Yankees made Taylor the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft – only the second high school pitcher ever taken first overall in the draft at the time and the first since 1973 (David Clyde, Texas Rangers). Only one high school pitcher has been taken first overall since (Brady Aiken, Houston Astros, 2014).
Taylor’s $1.55 million signing bonus, brokered by rising super-agent Scott Boras and his fearless mother, Bettie, set a new standard.
But just two years later, a shoulder injury suffered in a fight while defending his brother, ended the trajectory of what many believed was a Hall of Fame-bound career. Taylor never reached the majors.
For decades, he largely disappeared from public life.
Now 53, Taylor spoke up for the first time in years on The Paper Boys, a Carteret County News-Times podcast hosted by J.J. Smith and Zack Nally, offering his most candid and expansive interview ever.
‘I never changed’
Soft-spoken and humble, Taylor told his story with the same even keel that once baffled coaches, scouts and reporters.
“People thought I didn’t care because I wasn’t loud or flashy,” Taylor said. “But I played hard. I loved the game. That was just me.”
Taylor’s recollections of his high school years are vivid: standing-room-only crowds lining the fence to clock his fastball; pitching back-to-back no-hitters, a regional final in which he struck out 17 and allowed just one hit and lost 1-0; and a senior season so dominant that most opponents never reached base.
He remembers the disbelief from players and fans alike.
“Some (scouts) came just to see if I could really throw 95,” Taylor said. “Then they saw the gun and left early. Said they knew I’d go first or second [in the draft], and they didn’t have a shot.”
Taylor was more than velocity. He hit .400 at the plate, stole bases, and ran to first in just over 4 seconds. In basketball and track, he starred as well, dunking with a vertical leap earned through years of trying to jam without being able to palm the ball.
But it was baseball – and his left arm – that captured national attention.
Years later, those who saw him play were still in awe of his talent.
In 2006, Boras said, “I’ve been through 28 drafts and Brien Taylor, still to this day, is the best high school pitcher I’ve seen in my life.”
Ron Rizzi spent more than 50 years scouting in baseball, working up to special assistant to the GM for the Washington Nationals.
In 2020, he said, “The best pitcher I ever scouted was Brien Taylor. He would have been one of the greatest pitchers in the history of baseball.”
The Yankees, the agent, and a mother’s stand
Taylor’s draft story is now legend. When the Yankees offered $300,000, Bettie Taylor – a woman from a small town with little money, but a lot of resolve – refused.
“She stood up to the Yankees, man,” Taylor said. “Most people would’ve folded. But she said no.”
The standoff made national headlines and earned them features in numerous media outlets. Bettie was written about in Sports Illustrated and the New York Times.
In a 60 Minutes piece on Taylor and his mother, Morley Safer said, “It all worked out because Bettie Taylor had faith in the Lord, and Brien had faith in Bettie Taylor.”
With Boras in his corner, Taylor finally signed for $1.55 million – then the largest signing bonus in draft history.
“She never flinched,” Taylor said of his mother. “Even when folks around here were calling her crazy.”
Dominance and derailment
After the draft ended and the media buzz died down, Taylor didn’t disappoint. In his first season at Class A Fort Lauderdale, he posted a 2.57 ERA and struck out 187 batters in 161 1/3 innings. At Double-A Albany the next year, he fanned 150 batters in 163 innings and went 13-7 with a 3.48 ERA.
But in December 1993, everything changed.
Taylor, trying to protect his brother during a fight, dislocated his shoulder and tore his labrum. Renowned surgeon Frank Jobe reportedly described it as one of the worst injuries he’d ever seen. Taylor was never the same, saying he couldn’t control where the ball went after the injury.
“That’s when my life started going downhill,” he admitted. “No alcohol. No drugs. I was just trying to help family.”
For years, the full story has been buried beneath rumor and speculation. Now, Taylor is writing a book to set the record straight.
“I was labeled a barfighter, a bust, all kinds of things,” he said. “But most of it wasn’t true.”
Losing the game — and himself
Taylor spent the rest of the 90s rehabbing his shoulder, trying to come back. He made it as far as the instructional leagues, but the velocity, and the command, never returned.
He would go on to watch contemporaries like Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera ascend to the majors and play for a Yankees team that won four World Series from 1996-2000.
“I cheered for them, I’m not a hater,” Taylor said. “But it was hard. I missed the game. I missed being able to dominate.”
By the 2000s, he was out of baseball. At 29, he developed congestive heart failure. In 2012, he was sentenced to more than three years in prison for his role in a drug distribution conspiracy, a fall from grace that stunned those who remembered the smooth, quiet kid from Beaufort.
“I went looking for fast money,” Taylor said. “I forgot who I was. But I came back. I got myself together.”
‘I’m still standing’
Today, Taylor works, looks to motivate others and speaks openly about mental health and self-worth.
“I tell kids now, you’ve got to separate who you are from what you do,” he said. “I thought I was just a ballplayer. When that ended, I felt like I was nothing.”
But Taylor isn’t bitter. He’s thoughtful, grounded, and as soft-spoken as ever. And he’s determined to use his story – from No. 1 overall pick to federal inmate to redemptive return – to help others.
“I don’t coach because people expect me to teach kids to throw 100,” he laughed. “But I want to talk to them. Share what I’ve learned. Help them stay on the right path.”
And yes, he still throws.
“I don’t hit 98 anymore,” he said, smiling. “But I can still sling it.”