Nurturing young baseball players to achieve their field of dreams inspired lawyer David Taylor to help create Indiana's only baseball farm team that has produced stars for the Philadelphia Phillies and Florida Marlins.

A former college player, Taylor used old-fashioned teamwork and the talents of former athletes, including Tom Pyrz, executive director of the Indiana State Bar Association, to develop the club, called the Indiana Bulls.

"My goal was to include as many young men as possible so they would have a chance at a career and a college scholarship. We've already got our first law school graduate, a medical school graduate and a dental school graduate," says Taylor of Carmel, Ind.

Besides these young achievers, the Indiana Bulls has produced Major League stars Scott Rolen, a third baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies, and Todd Dunwoody, an outfielder for the Florida Marlins.

Taylor's nurturing, inherited from his family, has become second nature. He was born in 1961 and raised with his twin brother Daniel and sister Sally in Crawfordsville, a western Indiana farm community. His mother Barbara is a former secretary and homemaker, and his father Richard is a retired factory worker who now owns a sporting goods store.

When his father punched the clock at 3:01 p.m., he immediately headed home, often to play catch with young David and Daniel in the backyard. "I can greatly appreciate that time he had with us then. Now that I'm a lawyer, I don't have that luxury," Taylor says.

His love for baseball came from a family tradition. His late grandfather Harold Taylor was a minor league player and his father played baseball in high school. That appreciation of the game grew as the family religiously attended St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs games.

Taylor played third base at Southmont High School and then at Wabash College in Indiana. He earned a bachelor's degree cum laude in liberal arts and psychology in 1983, and his law degree at Indiana University School of Law at Indianapolis three years later.

His interest in baseball mingled with a growing fascination with the law which was piqued after his mother took him as a 7-year-old to visit the Montgomery County Circuit Court to watch a trial and talk personally to Judge Thomas Milligan (who continues today as the presiding judge).

"In a small town, lawyers and judges are a big deal. They're our most prestigious citizens. It was very inspiring," Taylor recalls.

His decision to enter law germinated during a five-month stay in Philadelphia where he took a few courses at a local college and worked for a law firm. "Seeing how law works on a daily basis gave me a whole new view of the world," he adds.

After earning his law degree, Taylor landed a job with a downtown Indianapolis firm and worked there for about seven years before joining his current firm, Jennings Taylor Wheeler & Bouwkamp PC, an 18-lawyer office in Carmel specializing in insurance defense.

Once he settled into his law practice, Taylor was asked by members of the Carmel Dad's Club to coach youth baseball. The Dad's Club is a non-profit organization of fathers of 1,200 children who play baseball.

"As I grew up, I had some very good teachers and some really good coaches. So I was committed to returning something to the community," he says.

In 1991, Taylor began to coach the 16-year-old Central Indiana Stars for the Junior Olympics, which exposed him to a statewide process of selecting players. The Stars ranked 12th of 48 states.

After that coaching experience, he began discussing the formation of a farm team that could open doors to college scholarships, the Minor or Major Leagues for young baseball players. Taylor believed that Indiana was in the dark ages when cultivating sports talent. He wanted to help spark enthusiasm among players and fans alike.

"That was the impetus for the Indiana Bulls," Taylor recalls. "We began to look more broadly and realized Indiana didn't have a team that played all summer with the best talent and with competition from teams around the country."

Taylor discussed the idea with the Carmel Youth Baseball Association, formed a 30-member board of directors, chose uniforms and officially introduced the Indiana Bulls in 1992.

The Indiana Bulls started with one team of 18-year-old players. Today, the ball club has about 100 boys, aged 14 to 18, who belong to five teams based on age. They play at the Davey Sports Complex at Butler University in Indianapolis. The ball team is affiliated with several national and regional amateur baseball associations.

Some executives, including a Chicago banker and Tom Pryz, helped to support and facilitate the team. Pyrz was captain and shortstop of his baseball team at West Point Military Academy. For five years, he volunteered on the Indiana Bulls' board of directors and helped with field preparations, travel arrangements and coaching. Pyrz's son David, now 21, played for the Bulls for three years.

"Our goal was to provide a vehicle for the 14- to 18-year-olds in central Indiana and elsewhere so they can get themselves noticed by college scouts," explains Pryz, a Dad's Club member at the time he met Taylor. AWe wanted these young men to be recognized as good players and to get scholarships for college. There has been no other opportunity like this before."

In the team's short history, good prospects were cultivated and success stories emerged. Scott Rolen played two seasons with the Indiana Bulls before moving on to the Minor Leagues. In 1996, Rolen became third baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies; Rookie of the Year; and signed a four-year, $10 million contract.

Todd Dunwoody was voted most valuable player of the Class A Kane County Cougars, near Chicago, and most valuable player for the Class AA All Star game in 1996. Also that year, he became the outfielder for the Florida Marlins.

About 20 other Indiana Bulls players have reached various levels in the Minor Leagues, including A.J. Zapp who plays for the Macon, Ga., Braves and was the first round 1996 draft pick for the Atlanta Braves.

Besides producing major league greats, the Bulls also earned top scores on the field. In both 1996 and 1997, the 17-year-old team won the National Amateur Baseball Federation's National Championship.

The 16- and 17-year-old teams, with boys from as far north as Gary and south to the Ohio River, have the broadest pool of talent, Taylor observes. Because of their age and their first access to a car, more boys traveled the distance just to try out for the team. By age 18, much of the talent is drafted into college teams or the Minor Leagues.

Since 1992, Taylor has coached and is now the club's administrator. Also, when many of the young men needed legal advice on negotiating a contract, Taylor lent his expertise pro bono.

Since his background is primarily in insurance, Taylor took several continuing legal education courses on contracts in order to help represent the ball players. This growing experience prompted his firm to create a sports law department, which Taylor heads with three assistants. He now represents seven pro baseball players.

Although Taylor's responsibilities grew with the Indiana Bulls and his law practice, he never forgot about handing down his love of baseball to his own children. David and wife Laura have a son and twin daughters. He also remembers the importance of inspiring his children, like the kind of inspiration he received years ago.

"I can give my son a bat and ball. But when Scott Rolen comes over to play catch, that inspires him," jokes Taylor.

The author is the reporter for Bar Leader.