[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 135 (Thursday, October 1, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H9201]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO DAN QUISENBERRY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Snowbarger) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SNOWBARGER. Mr. Speaker, the Kansas City area, our national past 
time of baseball, and everyone who admires courage and grit suffered a 
tragic loss yesterday. Dan Quisenberry, former relief ace for the 
Kansas City Royals, lost his battle with brain cancer at the age of 45.
  Quiz faced death with the same unblinking fearlessness with which he 
faced a Wade Boggs or a Don Mattingly or a Reggie Jackson. His courage 
in the face of adversity was inspiration for all of us. Dan Quisenberry 
became the second Kansas City Royal to fall victim to this disease, 
joining manager Dick Howser, who died in 1987, just 2 years after 
leading the Royals to the world's championship.
  Dan Quisenberry developed a reputation as a ``flake'', based on his 
friendly banter with reporters who always sought him out for a good 
quote. This is a man who, finding success after a rare downturn in his 
pitching fortunes, told a reporter that he had found a delivery in his 
flaw. But, Quisenberry also was an intelligent and articulate man, a 
witty man who turned to poetry after his retirement from baseball.
  He also was the best relief pitcher the Kansas City Royals had ever 
known. He was the first pitcher to save 40 games in a season, and he 
still holds the American League record for most saves in two 
consecutive seasons with 89. At the peak of his career, he was a factor 
in every game; unique for a pitcher.
  Baseball writer and fellow Kansan Bill James put it best in his 
baseball abstract, ``The logic was this: let's say that the Royals were 
one ahead in the fifth inning, but the other team had a man on and Babe 
Ruth at the plate. You'd be thinking `Well, if he gets the Babe out 
here he's got the bottom of the order up in the sixth. That means that 
Babe and Lou and company don't come up again until the seventh at 
worst, and if it really gets tough in the seventh inning, Quiz can come 
in and the Royals will still win. So if he just gets Babe out here in 
the fifth inning, then the Royals win.''

                              {time}  1545

  Well, it was not just the Royals who threw this way, either. Managers 
would use their pinch hitters in the 5th and 6th innings, trying to 
keep Quisenberry out of the game. In a sense every Royals game revolved 
around trying to get to Quisenberry, and it was something that you 
started thinking about really as soon as you got to the park.
  This is about a man who threw underhand to major league hitters and 
got them out. But Dan Quisenberry was more than a great baseball 
player. He was a great human being. He was active in Harvesters, an 
organization that collects food for the homeless, and Village 
Presbyterian Church. He gave something even more precious than his 
money, he gave of his time. His dedication to charity and to children 
was admirable.
  I think it is appropriate to remember at this moment the immortal 
words of the fabled sportswriter Grantland Rice, words which very well 
might have been written for Dan Quisenberry:

       When the one great scorer comes to write against your name, 
     he marks not that you won or lost but how you played the 
     game.

  Mr. Speaker, I ask this body to join me in offering condolences to 
the Quisenberry family. Let them take comfort in the fact that life is 
not measured by its length but by its quality.

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