Dan Quisenberry

Quotes From Quisenberry
"Natural grass is a wonderful thing for little bugs and sinkerball pitchers."

"Our fielders have to catch a lot of balls, or at least deflect them to someone who can."

"I found a delivery in my flaw."

Played For
Kansas City Royals (1979-1988)
St. Louis Cardinals (1988-1989)
San Francisco Giants (1990)

All-Time Rankings
Dan Quisenberry ranks #7 among the Top 50 all-time at RP. Rankings ⇒

Best Season: 1984
Without Quisenberry, the 1984 Kansas City Royals probably would have finished fourth. Instead, they won their fifth division title in nine years. Quiz pitched 129 1/3 innings in 72 games, saving a league-high 44 while posting a sparkling 2.64 ERA. He walked only 12 batters all year. He lost the American League Cy Young Award to Willie Hernandez, another closer having a big season. The fact is, Quisenberry was more valuable to his team than Hernandez was to Detroit.

ERA Leaders, MLB (1980-1985)
1. Dan Quisenberry... 2.45
2. Jerry Ruess... 2.88
3. Fernando Valenzuela... 2.89
4. Steve Carlton... 2.94
5. Dave Stieb... 3.07
6. Nolan Ryan... 3.09
7. Bob Welch... 3.14
8. Mario Soto... 3.15
9. Joe Niekro... 3.21
10. Rick Camp... 3.23

The minimum required to make this list was 710 innings, which works out to about 125 innings pitcher per 162 games played. Quisenberry, Camp and Bob Stanley are the only relievers to make the top 30 or so on the list.

Where He Played
Quisenberry never started a major league game.

Born
Daniel Raymond Quisenberry was born on February 7, 1953, in Santa Monica, CA.

Died
September 30, 1998, Leawood, KS

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Primary Position:  P

Primary Team:  KCA

College:  Fresno Pacific

Major League Debut
July 8, 1979 ... In Kansas City against the White Sox, Quisenberry pitched the final 2 2/3 innings in a 4-2 loss. He allowed two hits, no runs, and no walks. The first batter he faced was Lamar Johnson, who bouned into a 4-6-3 double play to end the 7th inning. Quisenberry also induced a double play grounder in the 8th frame.

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1979
Rickey Henderson
Tim Raines
Kirk Gibson
Dickie Thon
Jesse Orosco
Jeff Reardon
Dan Quisenberry
Dave Righetti
Dave Stieb

Nicknames
Quiz

Uniform Numbers
#29 (1979-1988), #28 (1988 Cardinals), #40 (1988-1989 Cardinals), #47 (1990)

Similar Players
Kent Tekulve, Gene Garber, Byung-Hyun Kim

Related Players
Kent Tekulve

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1996 BBWAA 18 3.8%

Post-Season Appearances
1980 American League Championship Series
1980 World Series
1981 American League Division Playoffs
1984 American League Championship Series
1985 American League Championship Series
1985 World Series

Awards and Honors
1980 AL Rolaids Relief
1982 AL Rolaids Relief
1983 AL Rolaids Relief
1984 AL Rolaids Relief
1985 AL Rolaids Relief

Transactions
June 7, 1975: Signed by the Kansas City Royals as an amateur free agent; July 4, 1988: Released by the Kansas City Royals; July 14, 1988: Signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals; October 11, 1989: Released by the St. Louis Cardinals; January 28, 1990: Signed as a Free Agent with the San Francisco Giants.

All-Star Selections
1982 AL
1983 AL
1984 AL

Best Strength as a Player
Control. He walked just 162 batters in his entire career, which encompassed 1043 1/3 innings (1.40 per nine innings pitched).

Largest Weakness as a Player
For a closer, Quisenberry gave up more than his share of homers. In 1982, he surrendered 12 taters in 136 2/3 innings; in 1984 he gave up 10, including a grand slam to Detroit's Alan Trammell to lose a game.

Learn More about Dan Quisenberry
Search Amazon.com for Books about Dan Quisenberry ⇒
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