Joe Quinn

Joe Quinn, the second baseman of the Boston Club when they won the National League pennant in 1891, is now a resident of St. Louis.

He played his first professional ball in 1884 with the St. Louis Unions, having been brought from Dubuque, Ia., by Ted Sullivan to play at first base for that team.

Dunlap was captain and second baseman of the Unions that year. Quinn followed closely in Dunlap's footsteps, copied his every move, and so well that he was able for years afterwards to hold his own as a second baseman with the best clubs in the major leagues.

Quinn was a very lively sort of a lad at second, fielding finely and being a good hitter when a hit was badly needed.

He is now engaged in the livery business in St. Louis, and is rated one of the Mound City's most prominent and popular citizens.

-From The National Game

An interesting player, Joe Quinn was born in Sidney, Australia in 1864 and was the only Australian native to play in the big leagues until Craig Shipley came up with the Dodgers in the 1980's. Quinn is also the only person to play in the NL, AL, UA, and the Players League. Sadly, he never played in the AA. In 1884, Quinn played for the Black Diamonds, whose .832 winning percentage is the highest in the history of the major leagues. In 1899, Quinn played for the Cleveland Spiders, whose .130 winning percentage is the lowest in the history of the major leagues.

In the Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James has Quinn ranked as the 102nd best second baseman of all time. He also has him rated as one of the worst defensive second baseman of all time with only 3.68 Win Shares per 1,000 defensive innings.