His career spanned over 40 years and included almost 28 full seasons as a general manager in the National League for the Boston / Milwaukee Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.
Tommy Holmes, the club's star right fielder, had been obtained from the New York Yankees in a December 1941 trade; he was the runner-up in 1945's National League Most Valuable Player balloting.
Quinn also acquired three key contributors via trades: Lew Burdette, the Braves' ace right-handed starting pitcher, who came from the Yankees as a rookie in a late-season 1951 transaction for Sain; slugging first baseman Joe Adcock, obtained from the Cincinnati Redlegs in a four-team trade just before spring training in 1953; and veteran second baseman Red Schoendienst, another future Hall of Famer, who was the centerpiece of a major midseason 1957 deal with the New York Giants.
The Milwaukee Braves' home attendance shattered National League records during Quinn's tenure, never dipping below 1.749 million fans and exceeding the two-million mark for four straight years (1954–57).
Led by players Quinn signed or acquired via trades—starting pitcher (and future Baseball Hall of Famer) Jim Bunning, relief ace Jack Baldschun, infielders Dick Allen, Cookie Rojas and Tony Taylor, outfielders Johnny Callison, Tony González and ex-Brave Covington, and catcher Clay Dalrymple, among others—his 1964 Phillies were on the verge of winning the club's third pennant in its long history.
However, the Phillies' continued struggles on the field during the 1972 season led to Quinn's replacement as GM by Paul Owens, the club's farm system and scouting director, on June 3.
His son Bob was a longtime executive in the game who served as general manager of the Yankees, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants; another son, Jack, was the owner and general manager of the Hawaii Islanders of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League and also served as GM of the St. Louis Blues franchise in the National Hockey League.