Happy Birthday Paul Quantrill and Ryan Tepera

Former Blue Jays reliever Paul Quantrill turns 50 today.

He spent 6 seasons with the Jays and pitched in 386 games, 6th in team history for games for a pitcher (and no one will be passing him in the near future, unless we somehow bring back Aaron Loup). His best season with the Jays was 1997 when he had a 1.94 ERA in 77 relief appearances. He had a rubber arm, pitching in 80 or more games in 5 different seasons and led the league in appearances in 4 straight seasons.

Paul worked as setup man for Kelvim Escobar, Randy Myers and Billy Koch, but never got a shot at the closer’s job, he had 15 saves as a Jay.

He had the most Canadian in injuries, back in 1999, when he missed the start of the season because of a broken leg suffered in a snowmobile accident.

Quantrill also pitched for the Red Sox, Phillies, Dodgers, Yankees, Padres and Marlins.

In a 14 year career he pitched in 841 games, the most games of any Canadian pitcher and had a 3.83 ERA. A skinny right-hander Paul threw a sinking fastball, a slider, change and curve. The sinker was his best pitch causing batters to pound the ball into the ground.

Paul pitched in the 2006 World Baseball classic for Canada and was one of the coaches for Canada in the 2009 WBC. He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010.

It’s also Ryan Tepera’s birthday, he turns 31 today, I keep thinking he should be younger. 2018 was his fourth season with the Jays. Career he has a 3.49 ERA in 193 games, making him the leader in games by current Jays pitchers.

Happy Birthday Paul and Ryan.