*** VD 15 Commentary Thread ***

[jmaeroff]

No idea how a proud Slovak from Štefurov ended up with a fine Irish name like Quinn, but I love it for QUIZY purposes.

[cavebird]

No idea how a proud Slovak from Štefurov ended up with a fine Irish name like Quinn, but I love it for QUIZY purposes.

Well, now there is no more question of your strategy. Good idea to grab one of the ratio tank essentials early-ish---it dissuades others from joining the strategy (if two try it, both are screwed because you are both after the same players while the point of the strategy is to want pitchers nobody else wants).

[jmaeroff]

Well, now there is no more question of your strategy. Good idea to grab one of the ratio tank essentials early-ish---it dissuades others from joining the strategy (if two try it, both are screwed because you are both after the same players while the point of the strategy is to want pitchers nobody else wants).

Yeah, I wasn't enamored of the WHIP, but I needed pitching, needed a QUIZY, and he has the most Ws of any QUIZY not named Denton. ERA not stellar but hopefully shouldn't hurt me too much.

[johnnya24]

Yeah, I wasn't enamored of the WHIP, but I needed pitching, needed a QUIZY, and he has the most Ws of any QUIZY not named Denton. ERA not stellar but hopefully shouldn't hurt me too much.

RIP ERA and RIP WHIP ... in other words good pick.

[Bene Futuis]

No idea how a proud Slovak from Štefurov ended up with a fine Irish name like Quinn, but I love it for QUIZY purposes.

See, this is the kind of inanity we've been missing around here. Once upon a while back we made up nicknames for every single player we selected (and then we voted for best nickname each round, lol). I think adding a bit of trivia to each of our picks would serve the same, higher purpose that's been missing from our recent drafts.


Fun fact: Roger Clemens was pretty much a shitty person in every respect imaginable, worthy only of derision and contempt.

[cavebird]

See, this is the kind of inanity we've been missing around here. Once upon a while back we made up nicknames for every single player we selected (and then we voted for best nickname each round, lol). I think adding a bit of trivia to each of our picks would serve the same, higher purpose that's been missing from our recent drafts.


Fun fact: Roger Clemens was pretty much a shitty person in every respect imaginable, worthy only of derision and contempt.

That's not what she said. Of course, she was 14 at the time.

[johnnya24]

Fun fact: Roger Clemens was pretty much a shitty person in every respect imaginable, worthy only of derision and contempt.

Is it true that Roger Clemens would rub his teammates toothbrushes up his sweaty crotch if they misfielded?

[Ken]

No idea how a proud Slovak from Štefurov ended up with a fine Irish name like Quinn, but I love it for QUIZY purposes.

Would it surprise you to find out he was likely neither Slovak OR named Quinn?

His real name was likely John Picus since that's how he signed legal documents (although he claimed to not remember the correct spelling for sure). And he likely was from a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania, of Polish decent.

the pitcher known as Jack Quinn was born on July 5, 1883, or 1884 or 1885. His birthplace was southwest of Wilkes-Barre, but whether it was Janesville, Jeansville, Jeanesville, Hazleton, Mahanoy City, Gorman’s, St. Clair, or some other coal mining town, is a matter of dispute

It was not uncommon for sons of Polish immigrants to think their baseball careers might be helped by assuming a different surname. Picus became Quinn, not only to avoid ethnic discrimination, but perhaps also to escape the derisive cognomen of “Pick Ass.”

source: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/cf88d73c

[johnnya24]

Have I got to pick already? This draft is flying along.

I'm just back home ... give me a little bit.

[Bene Futuis]

Clemens himself is a crotch-ridden smelly toothbrush of a human being. Just fucking awful.

[Ken]

Also, I'm pretty sure "Pick Ass", is going to be Bene's new nickname.

[jmaeroff]

Would it surprise you to find out he was likely neither Slovak OR named Quinn?

His real name was likely John Picus since that's how he signed legal documents (although he claimed to not remember the correct spelling for sure). And he likely was from a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania, of Polish decent.




source: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/cf88d73c

Weird, BB-Ref & Wikipedia both say he was born in Štefurov. (Wikipedia says he immigrated as an infant.) Next time I find myself in Pottsville Pa. (former NFL city, btw) I'll be sure to visit his gravesite and see if a POB is listed.

[cavebird]

Would it surprise you to find out he was likely neither Slovak OR named Quinn?

His real name was likely John Picus since that's how he signed legal documents (although he claimed to not remember the correct spelling for sure). And he likely was from a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania, of Polish decent.




source: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/cf88d73c

But if you read farther down the article you linked, it confirms that jmareoff is right, and Quinn was born in Austria-Hungary (which controlled Slovakia at the time).

"Much of the above speculation about Jack Quinn's birth and ancestry is probably misguided. Michael D. Scott has conducted extensive research and provided documentation that Quinn was born on July 1, 1883, in Stefurov, in the northwestern part of what is now the Republic of Slovakia, but was then a part of Austria-Hungary. According to Scott, whose research was published in NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture (Spring 2008, Vol. 16., No. 2), Jack's original name was Johannes Pajkos and he was a son of Michael Pajkos and his first wife Maria, nee Dzjiacsko. The family arrived in New York on June 18, 1884, aboard the SS Suevia. Shortly after arrival in America, Maria died. Michael found work in the coal mines near Hazleton, Pennsylvania, and found women of Slovak descent to care for his infant son. In November 1887 Michael married Anastasia Tsar, who became Jack Quinn's stepmother."

[Ken]

But if you read farther down the article you linked, it confirms that jmareoff is right, and Quinn was born in Austria-Hungary (which controlled Slovakia at the time).

"Much of the above speculation about Jack Quinn's birth and ancestry is probably misguided. Michael D. Scott has conducted extensive research and provided documentation that Quinn was born on July 1, 1883, in Stefurov, in the northwestern part of what is now the Republic of Slovakia, but was then a part of Austria-Hungary. According to Scott, whose research was published in NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture (Spring 2008, Vol. 16., No. 2), Jack's original name was Johannes Pajkos and he was a son of Michael Pajkos and his first wife Maria, nee Dzjiacsko. The family arrived in New York on June 18, 1884, aboard the SS Suevia. Shortly after arrival in America, Maria died. Michael found work in the coal mines near Hazleton, Pennsylvania, and found women of Slovak descent to care for his infant son. In November 1887 Michael married Anastasia Tsar, who became Jack Quinn's stepmother."

It's not so cut and dry - the real answer is that no one today knows for sure.

Where he was born…well, many would say he was born somewhere southwest of Wilkes-Barre, though B-R stands true with Stefurov, Slovakia (then part of Austria-Hungary). If that were true, which it probably isn’t, he’d be the only player born from what is now Slovakia to play in the majors.

https://walkoffwalk.net/2016/02/27/tot-jack-quinn-is-one-of-baseballs/

[Bene Futuis]

Also, I'm pretty sure "Pick Ass", is going to be Bene's new nickname.

Pick ass is what Roger Clemens does with his own toothbrush before he puts it in his mouth.