Tom Quinlan

After a stellar high school athletic career at Hill-Murray High School in Maplewood, Minnesota, Tom Quinlan had options.

In June 1986 Quinlan, who was named to All-State teams in baseball and hockey and had scholarship offers to play college baseball and hockey, was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 27th round of baseball’s amateur draft.

Later that month, Quinlan was selected by Calgary in the fourth round of the NHL Entry Draft. He was rated the number-26 overall prospect for the draft by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau.

Before the NHL draft, Glen Sonmor, the Minnesota North Stars’ director of player personnel, said Quinlan would not be a first-round draft pick because the 21 NHL teams were wary that he would pursue a career in baseball instead of hockey.1

While mulling his options, Quinlan played for the North baseball team at the US Olympic Festival in Houston. On August 1 he signed a letter of intent to play baseball at the University of Minnesota.

Starting the next day, Quinlan and the US junior national team played in the World Friendship Junior Baseball Tournament in Windsor, Ontario. Playing shortstop, he batted over .300 as the US team earned a bronze medal.

In late September, Quinlan decided to forgo the scholarship offer and signed a contract with the Blue Jays.

“Toronto increased their offer two weeks ago,” Quinlan said. “It was just a matter of me deciding what was the best way to go.”2

The week after signing with the Blue Jays, Quinlan joined the Blue Jays instructional league team in Florida before embarking on his first professional season in 1987.

Thomas Raymond Quinlan, who went on to spend 16 seasons in professional baseball, was born on March 27, 1968, in St. Paul, Minnesota, to Thomas and Marilyn Ann Quinlan. The family, which also included brothers Robb and Craig, lived in Maplewood, about 10 miles east of the Twin Cities. The elder Thomas Quinlan managed a trucking company and Marilyn Ann cut hair and also worked as a banquet waitress.

Quinlan spent his rookie season with the Myrtle Beach (South Carolina) Blue Jays in the Class-A South Atlantic League. He got off to a good start, going 5-for-12 as Myrtle Beach opened the season with a four-game sweep of Savannah.

Myrtle Beach, managed by Barry Foote, finished first in the South Division with an 83-56 record and defeated the Asheville (North Carolina) Tourists, 3-2, in the league’s championship series. The team had 14 players who would go on to play in the major leagues.

For the season, Quinlan batted .223 with 5 home runs and 51 RBIs in 132 games. Primarily a shortstop in high school, he played third base for Myrtle Beach and led South Atlantic League third sackers in double plays (29), putouts (96), and total chances (368).

Quinlan was promoted to Knoxville of the Double-A Southern League for 1988. After hitting his first home run of the season in Knoxville’s 6-5 victory over Chattanooga on April 17, he hit a walk-off solo home run the next day to give Knoxville a 2-1 victory over Chattanooga.

On June 15 Quinlan was placed on the disabled list with an injury to his right foot. He returned to Knoxville’s lineup on July 14. He finished the season hitting .218 with 8 home runs and 47 RBIs in 98 games.

Quinlan returned to Knoxville in 1989, hitting .210 with 16 home runs and 57 RBIs in 139 games. Defensively, he led Southern League third basemen in total chances (374) and assists (259).

Quinlan returned to Knoxville yet again in 1990 and received the Toronto organization’s Webster Award as the MVP of the team. He batted .258 and was second on the team with a .426 slugging percentage, 15 home runs and 51 RBIs in 141 games. He was called up by the Blue Jays and made his major-league debut on September 4 in Detroit. Quinlan started at third base and batted ninth.

He was at the plate in the second inning, when the Blue Jays’ Ken Williams was thrown out stealing. In the top of the third, in his first major-league at-bat, he struck out against Tigers starter Frank Tanana.

In the fifth inning, Williams led off with a double and Quinlan was hit by a pitch. The Blue Jays loaded the bases but didn’t score. In the seventh inning, facing reliever Paul Gibson with one out, Quinlan singled to center.

It was his only appearance of the season with the Blue Jays, who finished second in the AL East with an 86-76 record.

Quinlan went to spring training with the Blue Jays in 1991, before being reassigned to theclub’s minor-league camp on March 22. He spent the entire 1991 season with Triple-A Syracuse. In 132 games with the Chiefs, he batted .240 with 10 home runs and 49 RBIs. He was second in the International League with 72 walks and had a .347 on-base percentage.

Quinlan returned to Syracuse for the 1992 season. In early July, when Blue Jays third baseman Kelly Gruber was placed on the disabled list with a sore knee, Quinlan was recalled. On July 1 he doubled in two runs in the ninth inning off Mark Eichhorn in the Blue Jays’ 9-5 victory over the California Angels in Anaheim.

After making one more appearance, as a defensive replacement, Quinlan was returned to Syracuse on July 23, when Gruber was reactivated. He was recalled again on August 27 and spent the rest of the season with the Blue Jays. He played in seven games but didn’t make his first start until the Blue Jays’ 7-4 victory over the Tigers in Detroit on the final day of the regular season.

Quinlan was on the Blue Jays roster for the ALCS but did not play in any of the six games against Oakland. He was replaced by Rance Mulliniks on the Blue Jays roster for the World Series.

In his two stints with the Blue Jays in 1992, Quinlan played in 13 games, going 1-for-15 with a double and two RBIs. In 107 games with Syracuse, he batted .215 with 6 home runs and 36 RBIs. He was voted a 30 percent World Series share ($36,000) by the Blue Jays regulars.3

Quinlan spent the entire 1993 season with Syracuse. He hit .236 with 16 home runs and 53 RBIs and a team-best .340 on-base percentage. (He walked 56 times.) After the season he became a free agent and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Quinlan was invited to the Phillies’ 1994 spring training as a nonroster player but was reassigned to their minor-league camp on March 19.

He opened the season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and got off to a good start offensively. He went 13-for-28 in his first seven games and was hitting .300 in early May when he was called up by the Phillies after infielder Kevin Stocker was placed on the disabled list with a wrist injury.

“I’m a little surprised. I didn’t know anyone was hurt,” Quinlan said. “I have to have a chance to show I can play. If you do a job, who knows? Maybe you can stay a while.”4

Quinlan entered the Phillies’ game on May 10 in Atlanta in the bottom of the seventh inning as a defensive replacement after the Phillies had scored five runs in the top of the inning to take an 8-1 lead. The Braves rallied with seven runs in the ninth to tie it and eventually won the game 9-8 in 15 innings. Quinlan grounded out in the ninth, then singled off Mike Stanton in the top of the 12th for his first NL hit.

He made eight more appearances, primarily as a defensive replacement, before going 2-for-2 with a double in the Phillies’ 8-3 victory at home over the New York Mets on May 22. The next day he made the first of three consecutive starts at third base. After going 1-for-7 in the first two games in St. Louis, he was 2-for-5 with an RBI in the Phillies’ 10-5 loss to the Cardinals.

On May 29 in Philadelphia, Quinlan hit a two-run homer off Houston’s Doug Drabek in the second inning of the Phillies’ 4-2 victory over the Astros. Over the next three weeks, he played in eight games (four starts). Quinlan, who was 7-for-24 in his first 16 games with the Phillies, went 0-for-11 in those eight and was returned to Scranton on June 25.

He spent the rest of the season with Scranton. He had two two-home-run games in August. In the Red Barons’ 13-3 victory on August 6 in Ottawa, he hit two two-run home runs. On August 30 he hit a solo home run and a two-run homer in the Red Barons’ 7-1 victory over the visiting Norfolk Tides.

With the Red Barons, Quinlan batted .241 with 9 home runs and 23 RBIs in 76 games. After the season he became a free agent and signed with the Minnesota Twins. He spent the entire 1995 season with the Twins’ Triple-A Salt Lake farm team and put together his best professional season to date. During the regular season, he batted .279 with 17 home runs and 88 RBIs (third-best in the PCL), and led PCL third basemen in fielding percentage (.940).

Quinlan’s season included many highlights. He hit three home runs and drove in four runs in Salt Lake’s 12-2 victory over visiting Edmonton on July 28. In mid-August he put together a season-high 11-game hitting streak, going 19-for-48 with 2 home runs and 10 RBIs.

Salt Lake, 79-65 in the regular season, reached the PCL championship series (losing to Colorado Springs in five games). In eight postseason games, Quinlan batted .300 with 3 home runs and 6 RBIs.

After the season, Quinlan was added to the Twins’ 40-man roster, but in early December he was designated for assignment to clear a spot on the roster.

He re-signed with the Twins and was invited to the 1996 big-league camp. In 24 exhibitions, he batted .340 with one home run and 7 RBIs, which earned him a spot on the Twins’ Opening Day roster.

“I had my best season (in 1995),” Quinlan said. “After I got used to hitting this way (an open stance), my strikeouts were down. I had my best RBI year (88). My average was .279. I came here this spring with more confidence as a hitter than I’ve had in a long time.”5

The Twins opened the season at home and Quinlan made four appearances (one start) during the initial homestand. He went 0-for-6 and did not make another appearance before being sent to Salt Lake on April 19.

He spent the rest of the season with Salt Lake, hitting .283 with 15 home runs and 81 RBIs in 121 games.

After the season, Quinlan became a free agent again and signed with the Colorado Rockies organization. He spent the 1997 season with Triple-A Colorado Springs and hit .285 with 23 home runs and 113 RBIs (both career highs) in 134 games.

In 1998 he played for the Texas Rangers’ Triple-A Oklahoma farm team, hitting .278 in 137 games with 16 home runs and 97 RBIs.

In 1999 he spent his fifth consecutive season in the Pacific Coast League, playing for the Chicago Cubs’ Iowa farm team. He batted .250 with 17 home runs and 58 RBIs in 133 games.

Quinlan spent the final three seasons of his professional career in Korea.

He joined the Hyundai Unicorns of the KBO for the 2000 season. He helped the Unicorns win the KBO championship by hitting 37 home runs (third-best in the league) and driving in 91 runs (10th-best).

The Unicorns, who were 91-40-2 in the regular season, defeated the Doosan Bears, 4-3, in the league’s championship series. Quinlan, who didn’t miss a game during the regular season, was the MVP of the championship series.

Quinlan returned to the Unicorns in 2001, hitting 28 home runs and driving in 66 runs in 123 games. The Unicorns, who were 72-57-4 in the regular season, seven games behind the first-place Samsung Lions, lost in the first round of the playoffs.

In 2002 Quinlan joined the LG Twins. After going hitless in 13 games, he retired.

“I got off to a slow start and was dealing with some injuries,” Quinlan said. “So, I retired. I really enjoyed my time in Korea. It was a wonderful experience and they treated me very well.”6

In 16 professional seasons – 13 in Organized Baseball and three in Korea – Quinlan finished with 239 home runs and 966 RBIs and a .247 batting average in 1,932 games.

In parts of four seasons in the major leagues, he played in 42 games. He went 9-for-58 with three doubles, one home run and five RBIs.

“What I remember most is all the great relationships with teammates,” Quinlan said. “We had a group of guys who came up together through the Blue Jays system. About 10 years ago, we got together at a reunion. We hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and we didn’t miss a beat. It was great.”7

After retiring from baseball, Quinlan went to work in the mortgage business.

Tom and his wife, Daneen, live in suburban St. Paul. They have two children, son Cory and daughter Cali. Cory played baseball for his father’s alma mater and college baseball at the University of St. Thomas. Tom Quinlan spent about 10 years as an assistant baseball coach at his alma mater.

Tom’s brother Craig, who is one year younger, was also selected in the MLB and NHL drafts and played one season in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. Brother Robb, who is nine years younger, spent parts of eight seasons in the big leagues, appearing in 458 games for the Angels from 2003 through 2010, with a career .276 batting average, 25 homers, and 121 runs batted in. He was 2-for-6 in postseason play, appearing briefly in 2005 and 2007 with a solo home run producing the only run in the Game Two ALCS loss to the White Sox in 2005.

As of early 2022, Tom and Robb were part of an ownership group for a proposed team in the Northwoods League, a summer collegiate, wood-bat league based in the Midwest. The team will be based in Hudson, Wisconsin.

Sources 

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted the 1996 Minnesota Twins Media Guide, Baseball-Reference.com, Newspapers.com, and Retrosheet.org, and conducted a phone interview with Tom Quinlan in March 2022.

Notes

1 Jerry Zgoda, “Best Field of Americans Comes in Off-Year for State,” Minneapolis Star and Tribune, June 17, 1986: 1D.

2 John Gilbert, “Quinlan Joins Blue Jays, Skips Scholarship at ‘U,’” Minneapolis Star and Tribune, September 25, 1986: 5D.

3 Marty York, “Dividing Up the World Series’ Spoils,” Globe and Mail (Toronto), October 30, 1992: C14.

4 Paul Hagen, “Stocker on DL for 2 Weeks, Maybe More,” Philadelphia Daily News, May 4, 1994: 76.

5 Patrick Reusse, “Quinlan Not Yet Ready to Put His Game on Ice,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 29, 1996: S2.

6 Quinlan interview.

7 Quinlan interview.