Arthur Lincoln Quirk Jr. (April 11, 1938 – November 22, 2014) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) who played two seasons for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

and the Washington Senators.

Amateur career

A native of

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, Quirk attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

and graduated in 1959, after leading the

Dartmouth Big Green baseball The Dartmouth Big Green baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of Dartmouth College, located in Hanover, New Hampshire. It has been a member of the NCAA Division I Ivy League baseball conference since its founding at the st ...

team pitching stats in the 1958 and 1959 seasons. In 1958, Quirk made his debut in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

(CCBL). He struck out 17 batters and batted 3-for-5 in his first game in which the

Orleans Firebirds The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play ...

defeated the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. Two weeks later, he threw a three-hitter and struck out 15. His season record was 9 wins and 0 losses with a 1.12

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

and a league-leading .475

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. In a ceremony prior to the league's all-star game,

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

players

Mel Allen Mel Allen (born Melvin Allen Israel; February 14, 1913 – June 16, 1996) was an American sportscaster, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. During the peak of his career in the 1940s, 1 ...

and

Phil Rizzuto Philip Francis Rizzuto ( ; September 25, 1917 – August 13, 2007), nicknamed "the Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to ...

presented Quirk with the league's Outstanding Pitcher Award. Quirk was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2009.

Professional career

Signed by the

as an amateur free agent in 1959, Quirk made it to the big league club in 1962. That season, he appeared in seven games for Baltimore, posting a 2–2 record while striking out 18 and allowing 18 earned runs in 27.1 innings of work. Prior to the 1963 season, Quirk was traded to the Washington Senators, and appeared in seven games for that club in his final major league campaign.

Post-baseball career

Later in life, Quirk worked as the Vice President of Marketing for the technology security firm Viasec based in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

, Ireland. He also served on numerous boards for organizations serving

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

's special needs community. Quirk died in

Stonington, Connecticut Stonington is a town located on Long Island Sound in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The municipal limits of the town include the borough of Stonington (borough), Connecticut, Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Connecticut, Pa ...

in 2014 at age 76.

References

External links

Obituary
2014 deaths 1938 births Amarillo Gold Sox players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Providence, Rhode Island Cape Cod Baseball League players (pre-modern era) Little Rock Travelers players Major League Baseball pitchers Orleans Firebirds players Rochester Red Wings players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players York White Roses players 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1930s-stub