Intro

Jack Quinn pitched for 23 years, winning 247 games in three different major leagues for eight teams. He pitched against Hall of Fame shortstops George Davis and Arky Vaughan (who starred four decades apart), and he was teammates with Hall of Fame hurlers Chief Bender and Lefty Grove, who started and ended their careers 38 years apart. In 1929, Quinn started Game Four of the World Series for Connie Mack's A's at the age of 46, and the next season he again pitched in the Series, at age 47. During the regular season in 1930, he became the oldest man to hit a home run in the major leagues. The right-hander pitched his final game for Cincinnati in 1933 at the age of 50, having posted a respectable 4.02 ERA in 15 2/3 innings of relief work.

Unform Number

#22 (1932), #29 (1933)

Minor Leages

John Quinn Picus, later known as "Jack Quinn," worked as a coal miner in his early teens, starring for mining teams as a pitcher and outfielder. His professional career started when, as a spectator at a Connellsville, Pennsylvania game, he threw a ball back to the catcher and nailed the mitt dead center. The visiting manager for Dunbar offered Quinn $5 for a win in the next game, $2.50 for a loss. But his debut in the majors didn't come until 1909, when he was 25. Quinn had an amazing career. He threw 27 complete games in 1914, at the age of 30. Fourteen years later, at age 44, he threw 18 complete games. In 23 major league seasons, he started 444 games, threw 243 complete games and nearly 4,000 innings. On April 14, 1931, Quinn became the oldest man to start a season opener, losing 7-4 to Boston at Braves Field.

Best Season

Quinn was 18-7 for Connie Mack's A's, with a 2.90 ERA in more than 211 innings. He threw four shutouts, the fourth time he reached that total in a single season. Somehow he batted in 12 runs despite hitting .165. The guy was 44 years old.

Factoid 1

Jack Quinn remains the oldest man to start (46 in 1929) or appear (47 in 1930) in a World Series game... In 1932, at the age of 49, he became the oldest man to win a major league game.

Factoid 2

Jack Quinn was the winning pitcher in the first Federal League game ever played, on April 13, 1914, in Baltimore. The rival third major league would last for two seasons before folding and being partially incorporated into the AL and NL.

Transition

Before 1914 Season: Jumped from the Boston Braves to the Baltimore Terrapins; December 20, 1921: Traded by the New York Yankees with Rip Collins, Roger Peckinpaugh, and Bill Piercy to the Boston Red Sox for Everett Scott, Joe Bush, and Sam Jones; July 10, 1925: Selected off waivers by the Philadelphia Athletics from the Boston Red Sox.

Strengths

This guy had a rubber arm.

Weaknesses

Lack of a strikeout pitch. Quinn, despite being relatively large, threw his fastball no faster than average. Consequently, opposing hitters put a lot of balls in play against him. Quinn gave up nearly 10 hits per nine innings, one of the higehst marks of any 200-game winner.

Legal Spitballers

In December, 1920, the American and National Leagues voted separately to allow those pitchers who used the spitball in 1920 as their primary pitch, to continue to do so for the remainder of their professional careers. The 17 pitchers were: American League A.W. Ayers Slim Caldwell Stan Coveleski Red Faber Dutch Leonard Jack Quinn Allan Russell Urban Shocker Allen Sothoron National League Phil Douglas Bill Doak Dana Fillingim Ray Fisher Marvin Goodwin Burleigh Grimes Clarence Mitchell Dick Rudolph