Dan Quisenberry

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Quisenberry was born in Santa Monica, California. His name is the English mutation of the German surname Questenberg, a village in Saxony-Anhalt. His parents divorced when he was 7 years old, and his mother remarried Art Meola, a Rockwell International engineer who encouraged him and his older brother to play baseball. Quisenberry played baseball at Costa Mesa High School/Middle School. In 1973, while attending Orange Coast College, he was named team MVP. He was then recruited by the University of La Verne, a Church of the Brethren college, where he met his future wife, Janie Howard, while attending a class in square dancing. During spring training in 1980, manager Jim Frey suggested that Quisenberry learn the submarine-style delivery from Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Kent Tekulve to confuse hitters, because he could not overpower them with a fastball. From 1980 to 1985, Quisenberry was the American League's dominant closer, leading the American League in saves every season except the strike-shortened 1981 season. During that time, he posted an ERA of 2.45 and won the Rolaids Relief Man Award each season from 1980 to 1984 (he did not win in 1985). He also finished in the top five in voting for the Cy Young Award during this span. He won the Sporting News Reliever of the Year Award every year from 1982 to 1985. His 45 saves in 1983 set a single-season MLB record, later tied in 1984 by Bruce Sutter and broken in 1986 by Dave Righetti, and set a team record that was tied in 1993 by Jeff Montgomery and surpassed in 2013 by Greg Holland. Quisenberry was the first pitcher in major league history to save more than 40 games in a season twice in his career. He won a World Series with the Royals in 1985 and was the winning pitcher of Game 6, notorious for Don Denkinger's blown call at first base. In 1983, the Royals signed Quisenberry to a lifetime contract, similar to the contract of teammate George Brett. However, a rocky start in 1988 led to Quisenberry's relegation to middle relief and mop-up duty. Shortly before the All-Star break, he was rele

In Their Own Story

On July 8, 1979, at age 26, Quisenberry made his major league debut against the Chicago White Sox, pitching 2+2⁄3 scoreless innings with two hits allowed and no walks. During the winter of 1978, he attended Fresno Pacific University to earn a teaching degree while working at a sporting goods store by day and a mortuary by night. His dominance peaked in the early 1980s, leading the American League in saves every season except the strike-shortened 1981 campaign. In 1983, he set the record with 45 saves, a mark that stood until 1986. The Royals signed him to a lifetime contract similar to George Brett's, but a rocky start in 1988 relegated him to middle relief before his release just before the All-Star break. Ten days later, the St. Louis Cardinals, managed by ex-Royals manager Whitey Herzog, signed him as a free agent.

Reader's Guide

Quisenberry signed with the Royals as an amateur free agent in 1975 for a Class A team in Waterloo, Iowa, and pitched a complete game in his first start. At the end of the season, he was promoted to the Double-A team in Jacksonville, Florida. At the time, he worked for a sporting goods store during the day and a mortuary at night. In the winter of 1978, he attended Fresno Pacific University, affiliated with the Mennonite Brethren Church, to get a teaching degree in case his baseball career was not successful. On July 8, 1979, at the age of 26, he made his major league debut with the Kansas City Royals against the Chicago White Sox, pitching 2+2⁄3 scoreless innings, and surrendering just two hits and no walks. Quisenberry appeared in 32 games and posted a 3–2 record with a 3.15 earned run average and five saves. Unlike many closers, Quisenberry did not possess a hard fastball, and thus had to rely on pinpoint control, guile, and deception, which was augmented by the submarine delivery he first used in 1980. His primary pitch was a sinking fastball, which causes hitters to hit the ball on the ground rather than in the air. He also threw a curveball, a changeup he developed in 1984, and an occasional knuckleball. Although Quisenberry was not a strikeout pitcher (averaging only 3.3 strikeouts per nine innings during his career), he offset this deficiency by seldom walking batters or throwing wild pitches.

Did You Know?

• Quisenberry published a book of poetry, 'On Days Like This', in 1998.
• He was one of baseball's most quotable characters, with bon mots like 'I found a delivery in my flaw' and 'I've seen the future and it's much like the present, only longer.'
• In the 1996 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Quisenberry received 18 votes, just under the 5% cut-off to remain on the ballot.
• Quisenberry was diagnosed with grade IV astrocytoma in 1998 and died at age 45 on September 30, 1998, in Leawood, Kansas.