| Jamie Quirk | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Catcher | |
| Born: (1954-10-22)October 22, 1954 (age 70) Whittier, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 4, 1975, for the Kansas City Royals | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 4, 1992, for the Oakland Athletics | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .240 |
| Home runs | 43 |
| Runs batted in | 247 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
As player
As coach | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
James Patrick Quirk (/ˈkwɜːrk/; born October 22, 1954) is an American former professionalbaseball player andcoach.[1] He played as acatcher inMajor League Baseball from 1975 to 1992. Quirk was a member of the world champion1985 Kansas City Royals team.
Quirk was born inWhittier, California. He was aParade All-Americaquarterback atSt. Paul High School inSanta Fe Springs, California where, upon graduation, he was offered a four-year football scholarship to theUniversity of Notre Dame.[2] Quirk attendedWhittier College.[3]
Quirk played for theKansas City Royals,Milwaukee Brewers,St. Louis Cardinals,Chicago White Sox,New York Yankees,Oakland Athletics,Cleveland Indians andBaltimore Orioles in a career that spanned the years 1975–1992.
On September 27, 1984, Quirk hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning for the Cleveland Indians in a game against theMinnesota Twins. It was the only plate appearance Quirk had for the Indians,[4] and was meaningless for Cleveland, which was in sixth place in its division. But the home run was crucial for Quirk's former team of seven years, the Kansas City Royals, which was in a tight race with the Twins for the American League West division crown. With Quirk's home run, the Royals moved two games ahead of the Twins with three to play. The Royals clinched the division the next day. Quirk would return to the Royals in 1985 and play four more years in Kansas City.
Quirk began his coaching career with theKansas City Royals in 1994 as the bullpen coach from 1994 to 1995, and then as bench coach from 1996 to 2001. He then became the bullpen coach for theTexas Rangers for the 2002 Season. Quirk moved on to become bench coach for theColorado Rockies from 2003 to 2008 under managerClint Hurdle.[5] From 2010 to 2011, Quirk served as bullpen coach for theHouston Astros under managerBrad Mills.[6] On November 29, 2011, Quirk became the bench coach for theChicago Cubs to serve under newly-hired managerDale Sveum where he served until 2013.[5]
On September 6,2012, Quirk was involved in a benches-clearing incident during a game between the Cubs and theWashington Nationals. Quirk was yelling from his own dugout, apparently at Nationals third base coachBo Porter, causing Porter to leave his position on the field and approach Quirk. Ultimately, both teams came out onto the field and Quirk was ejected by umpireJerry Layne.[7]
He was the manager of theLake Elsinore Storm and theSan Antonio Missions in theSan Diego Padres system before he was promoted to theEl Paso Chihuahuas on June 17, 2015.[8] Quirk managed the Kansas City Royals-affiliatedWilmington Blue Rocks from 2016 to 2017.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Colorado RockiesBench Coach 2003–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Houston AstrosBullpen Coach 2009–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chicago CubsBench Coach 2012–2013 | Succeeded by |
