Paul Quantrill

Paul John Quantrill (born November 3, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher. He earned a reputation for being very durable and having impeccable control. He regularly appeared in 80 or more games a season and did not walk more than 25 batters in a season since 1996. Commentators often joked that he had a "rubber arm".

Career

Quantrill was drafted in 1986 by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 26th round, 660th overall, and again by the Boston Red Sox in the sixth round of the 1989 amateur draft, 161st overall, and made his Major League debut on July 20, 1992. Originally considered a starter, Quantrill eventually found consistency as a reliever after several years of splitting time between the bullpen and the starting rotation for several teams. Some of his best years came for the Toronto Blue Jays, a team located in his home province of Ontario.

Quantrill allowed a game-winning home run to Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz in Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series. Boston avoided elimination in this game and went on to win its first World Series in 86 years.

Before the 2004 season, Quantrill signed a two-year $6.8-million deal with the New York Yankees. Due to poor performance, arguably due to overuse by Joe Torre, in late 2004 and early 2005, Quantrill was designated for assignment on July 1, 2005. The next day he was traded to the San Diego Padres for pitchers Tim Redding and Darrell May.^[1] Quantrill was then traded to the Florida Marlins and spent the rest of the year in the bullpen. In the middle of March while playing in the Baseball World Classic, Quantrill said he would retire at the end of the World Baseball Classic.

Quantrill was one of the coaches for Team Canada during the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

On June 19, 2010, Quantrill was inducted, along with former Blue Jay Roberto Alomar, into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ontario.^[2]

Accomplishments

• All-Star (2001)
• Led the league in appearances (2001, 2002, 2003)
• Career 3.83 ERA
• Holds New York Yankees record for most games pitched in a season (86 in 2004)

Personal

Since retirement, Quantrill lives in Port Hope, Ontario.^[3] His son Cal was a pitcher at Stanford University^[4][5] and was selected in the first round, eight overall, in the 2016 Major League Baseball draft by the San Diego Padres.^[6]

As of June 2016, Quantrill serves as a Special Assistant to the Toronto Blue Jays Organization.^[7]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball players from Canada

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)