MARCH 19, 1965 | MESA, ARIZONA – Tragedy struck the Chicago Cubs on this date in 1965. Cubs’ play-by-play announcer Jack Quinlan, shown here with Cubs star Ernie Banks, was killed in a car accident on the outskirts of Mesa, Arizona where the Cubs were training.
The accident occurred late in the evening when Quinlan’s car struck a parked truck. He was returning to Chandler, Arizona after playing golf in Mesa.
Quinlan was a broadcasting boy wonder after graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 1948. He started doing Cubs games in 1952 at the age of 25. Hall of Fame Cubs’ broadcaster Jack Brickhouse wrote in his book A Voice for all Seasons, “He was dynamic and authoritative, and with his sense of humor they added up to a superb announcer. Sometimes I thought you could actually hear his smile on the air.”
Jack Quinlan was 38 when he died.
Contributing sources:
“Thanks for Listening,” by Jack Brickhouse, 1996
The Chicago Tribune, March 20, 1965
