Most critical save
Coach rescues Quinn
NORWOOD — Tom O’Leary wasn’t planning on being at Gormley Field that fateful evening back in the spring of 2015.
Fortunately for Danny Quinn, O’Leary was.
While pitching for the Angels in a Norwood Babe Ruth game, Quinn was felled by a comebacker off the bat of Sam Wong. Quinn and his Babe Ruth coach, Kevin Igoe, didn’t see any physical damage and assumed he was fine.
O’Leary saw a different picture. A 43-year veteran of the Brookline Fire Department and Igoe’s assistant, O’Leary took a look at Quinn and immediately told him to get to Norwood Hospital.
“It sounds crazy, but the fact that Danny didn’t have any outward swelling made me nervous,” O’Leary said. “I didn’t like the look of his eyes and I started getting concerned that he might have some swelling on the inside.”
Within 30 minutes of arrival at Norwood Hospital, Quinn began throwing up. He later passed out during a CAT scan, which revealed a skull fracture that cut an artery, resulting in bleeding into open space between his skull and brain.
Medflighted to Children’s Hospital, he underwent surgery. When Quinn woke up, he could barely recognize himself.
“Half my head was shaved and both of my eyes were black,” said Quinn, now a senior pitcher at Norwood High. “When I got hit, I never thought it was that bad. I wanted to keep pitching, so thank God that Bomber (O’Leary’s nickname) was there that night to tell me to get to the hospital.”
Quinn wasn’t the only person grateful.
“Someone upstairs was watching out for Danny that night,” said Igoe, Quinn’s head coach at Norwood. “Bomber knew exactly what was going on and what needed to be done.”
Quinn spent nearly a year in physical therapy before returning to the mound. As fate would have it, Quinn was pitching against the same team at the same field he was felled at, and the first batter was Wong, the hitter whose liner put Quinn out of commission.
The natural tendency would be for Quinn to be a little gun shy at the outset. That was the last thing Quinn was as he walked out onto the field named for his great grandfather.
“I couldn’t wait to get back out there and pitch again,” Quinn said. “I wasn’t nervous at all, I thought it was pretty funny that Sam was the first batter I was facing, but it didn’t matter at all. I was just happy to be pitching.”
Quinn’s grit and inner toughness has been a godsend to Igoe this spring. The Mustangs are an uncharacteristic 5-9, losing four times on walkoffs, due in large part to a lineup loaded with freshmen and sophomores. With the tournament becoming more and more of a pipe dream, Quinn has stepped up as a leader, refusing to let the younger players hang their heads.
“I keep telling everybody that we’re not that far away from being a good team,” said Quinn, who is 2-1 with a win over Wellesley. “Our record isn’t great, but we play everyone tough. I really think we have a chance to put things together.”
Igoe smiles as he watches Quinn interact with his teammates on a sunny spring afternoon at Balch Field. He knows the story could have had a far worse outcome.
“Danny is an outstanding kid with a great attitude,” Igoe said. “He’s the kind of kid you dream about getting a chance to coach. To go through the adversity he’s been through and persevere makes me so incredibly proud of him.”