This is going to be a darn sight harder than the Y and Z teams we recently put together. But let's give it a go ...
You probably guessed that "outside shot" reference pointed to a guy abbreviated in the headline, Dan Quisenberry. If you follow the Blue Jays, you've probably thought up Quantrill and Quiroz. Now quick, come up with five more.
See? Q, thy name is obscurity. (Say, wasn't that the name of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode?) The All-Time Q home run leader, Mark Quinn, had 46 bombs; only six Qs have even reached double digits in career dingers. Late 19th-century 2B Joe Quinn runs away -- literally -- with the Q stolen base title, as his 268 more than triples the total of 88 run up by every other Q player in major league history combined through 2004.
On the pitching side, while early 20th-century star Jack Quinn rung up 247 career wins, the numbers two and three guys are, believe it or not, Quantrill and Quisenberry with 66 adn 56, respectively. Turnabout is fair play, though, as Jack Quinn's 57 career saves ranks a distant second behind Quisenberry's 244 but well ahead of Quantrill's third-place 21.
Putting together a starting rotation will be particularly difficult; Quantrill, the all-time leader in Q games pitched with 791 through 2004, was also third in starts -- even though he had just 64. So, even if you take Jack Quinn's 746 games/444 starts, Quantrill's 791 games/64 starts and Quisenberry's 674 games/no starts out of it, all other Q pitchers have combined to appear in 480 big league games through 2004, and just 184 of those were starts.
On the not-so-very-bright side, there are a whole bunch of backup-catcher-quality Q's out there, to the point that Quiroz almost didn't make the roster.
So yeah, this is gonna be hard. They don't even get a very macho team name as here we meet the boys of the team called ...
THE SUZY Q'S
**indicates Hall of Famer (there are none)
* indicates All-Star
MGR Frank Quilici (280-287, 1972-75; really the only candidate)
LINEUP
C Jamie Quirk (.240, 43 homers, 1975-92)
1B Robb Quinlan (.323 through 2004)
2B Joe Quinn (.261, 1884-1901)
SS Luis Quinones (.226, 1983-92)
3B Tom Quinlan (.155, 1990-96)
LF George Quellich (.222, 1931)
CF Jimmy Qualls (best known for breaking up Seaver perfect game)
RF Mark Quinn (.282, 45 homers)
DH Carlos Quintana (.276, 1988-93)
BENCH
C Guillermo Quiroz (.212, 2004)
SS/3B Lee Quillen (.200, 1906-07)
IF Joe Quest (.217, 1871-86)
OF Finners Quinlan (.183, 1913-15)
OF/C Paddy Quinn (.243, 1871-77)
UTIL Marshall Quinton (C/OF/SS, .228, 1884-85)
ROTATION
RHSP Jack Quinn (247-218)
RHSP Mel J. Queen (27-40)
RHSP Ruben Quevedo (14-30)
RHSP Art Quick (3-2 in 8 starts, 1962-63)
?HSP Bill Quarles (3-2 in 5 starts, 1892-93)
BULLPEN
CL Dan Quisenberry (56-46, 244 saves)
RHRP Paul Quantrill (66-76, 21 saves)
RHRP Mel D. Queen (20-17, 14 saves)
RHRP Chad Qualls (4-0, 1 save in 2004)
LHRP Luis Quintana (a lefty! At 2-3, 10th all-time in Q wins)
So ... prove me wrong. How can this team be quintessentially better?
