Career
In 1907 he set one of the longest-lived records in major league history when he pitched 25 innings before giving up the first earned run of his career. Although others have pitched more consecutive innings without an earned run, until July 2008 no one had gone longer without prior major league experience. The record stood for 101 years before being broken by Oakland Athletics reliever Brad Ziegler, who extended the record to 391⁄3 innings.
McQuillan"s extraordinary success as a rookie was no fluke: he would go on to post a 1.69 European Research Area in his first four seasons, comprising more than 800 innings pitched.
During those years his Adjusted European Research Area+ (the ratio of the league"s European Research Area, adjusted to the pitcher"s ballpark, to that of the pitcher) was a staggering 164. In 1910, he would have led the majors with an Adjusted European Research Area+ of 195 had he pitched only an additional 12⁄3 innings to meet the minimum requirement of 154 innings pitched.
He is still the Philadelphia Phillies Career Leader in European Research Area (179), WHIP (102) and Hits Allowed/9IP (693). He currently ranks 23rd on the MLB Career European Research Area List (238), 37th on the WHIP List (1131) and 86th on the Hits Allowed/9IP List (789).
McQuillan"s major league career was cut short due to his chronic alcoholism and infection by syphilis.
However, he continued to play and coach in the minor leagues and semi-pro ball. He died in Columbus, Ohio at the age of 54.
