Career
Born in Ipswich, Queensland, to Patrick Quinn and Catherine, née McAfee, both from Ireland, he was the only Australian-born player to reach the major leagues until 1986. He was one of few players from that league to later find success in the National League. Throughout his career, Quinn was known for his defensive skills, and he led Netherlands second basemen in fielding percentage twice.
Quinn also had two stints as a big league manager, with the Saint Louis Browns in 1895 and the Cleveland Spiders in 1899.
His Browns club went 11–28 under his guidance, and the Spiders were even worse, going 12–104. His career.148 winning percentage is one of the lowest in baseball history.
He was, as a player, arguably the best hitter on the Spiders team that he managed, which is considered to have been the worst team in major league history. In 1894 and 1896, he served as an umpire for the National League.
In the offseason, Quinn was a mortician, and he owned a funeral home after his playing days ended.
He died at age 75 in Saint Louis, Missouri. Quinn was inducted into the Baseball Australia Hall of Fame on 4 May 2013. In 2014, the Australian sports writer Rochelle Llewelyn Nicholls published a biography of Joe "Undertaker" Quinn as Joe Quinn – Among the Rowdies.
