John Gelnar

John Gelnar pitched for the Pirates, Pilots, and Brewers between 1964 and 1971.

John Richard Gelnar was born June 25, 1943, in Granite, in southwestern Oklahoma, between Oklahoma City and Amarillo, Texas. His family farmed, and as a teen John was a member of the Future Farmers of America and the 4-H club, a choir boy at the Catholic church, and a tap dancer, and played a lot of baseball. He played Little League, American Legion, and for Granite High School. On March 10, 1960, when he was 16, this item appeared in the “The Short Grass” column in the Mangum Star:

The way Johnny Gelnar, Granite, quit being a piano player and tap dancer and became one of the Legion nine’s most versatile baseball players, working the infield, outfield and mound, is a classic worthy of elaboration. As broken down piano player [sic], we especially rejoice when any boy ducks an artist’s fate in the shortgrass and embraces sports. During our time we’ve helped start more than one youngster on the sports trail instead of a life of dull and iniquitous piano practice.

The only necessary comment was “Lookit me, you don’t want to be like me do you?” That was enough to panic the kid out of the parlor onto the playing field and to preserve him for the Optimist club and possible presidency of the State National bank.

That year Granite High won the state Class C baseball championship, with John as their ace pitcher. In March 1961 the Mangum Star noted that John and his father had completed a welding class for farmers given at the vocational agriculture building in Granite, and on May 18 the Granite Enterprise ran profiles of the graduating seniors:

Johnnie Richard Gelnar

1961 Granite Senior

Johnnie Richard Gelnar is the son of the John Gelnars at Lake Creek. Born June 25, 1943, he attended school at Lake Creek eight years, coming to Granite at the consolidation of the two schools.

Johnnie has been president and secretary of FFA, president of his class all through senior high school, was in junior and senior plays and the district contest play, and played baseball and basketball since the beginning of junior high, has played American Legion baseball three years, and was a member of the State Champion Baseball Team of 1960. He is a member of the Catholic church.

Johnnie has chosen Oklahoma State as his college.

Either that last part was a misprint or Johnnie changed his mind, as he actually went to the University of Oklahoma. From the university’s Oklahoma Daily, March 17, 1962:

Frosh Fireballer Throttles Varsity In Practice Game

With his fast ball and curve darting wickedly, John Gelnar, Oklahoma’s freshman right-hander from Granite, blew the Sooner varsity down 3-0 in a nine-inning practice game Thursday afternoon.

Gelnar, 6-2 and 185, whiffed 18 and limited the Sooners to a lone single by Shortstop Jan Christian. Doyle Tunnel started for the varsity and Bobby Jayroe finished.

The Mangum Star, May 14:

OU Is High On Gelnar As Pitcher And Hitter

NORMAN, Okla., May 14—Pitchers aren’t supposed to be able to hit, but nobody ever told that to Johnny Gelnar, Oklahoma’s husky freshman pitcher from Granite.

Gelnar is hitting well over .300 and pitching just as well for the Boomers. Although Big Eight Conference schools aren’t permitting inter-school rivalry, Gelnar gets in plenty of licks against his freshman teammates and the Sooner varsity…

Johnny’s hitting ability is something of rarity among pitchers. But he hit so well in highschool and American Legion ball at Mangum, he was used at shortstop when he wasn’t on the mound.

When Granite won the state Class C baseball title in 1961 [1960], Gelnar was included on the Oklahoma All-State squad. He played there under coach Dwight Hogg.

Johnny’s expected to be a big help next year when he moves up to the varsity. Pitching has been the primary problem of the 1962 Sooners.

The 18-year-old righthander is the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Gelnar of Granite.

As I interpret that, the freshman team couldn’t play any actual games against other schools, so they played among themselves and against the varsity. John spent the summer pitching for the Oklahoma Natural Gassers of Oklahoma City’s amateur Industrial League; they won the state amateur tournament but were eliminated quickly from the Southwest Regional tournament, as discussed by John Young in his “Young Ideas” column in the Cushing Daily Citizen on September 9:

Rehashing the Southwest Regional baseball tournament:

Biggest flop of the meet had to be the showing of the Oklahoma Natural Gassers. ONG looked a bit over-confident in the opener and was shocked by a hustling Pine Bluff, Ark., team.

In their second outing, Gasser ace John Gelnar was shelled from the mound, reportedly for the first time in his pitching career. Later in the game, the Oklahoma State champs simply came apart at the seams and bowed out without a victory.

Gelnar, despite his showing on Monday, was obviously the object of the affections of the major league scouts. On opening night there were 24 scouts in the stands. It’s doubtful that it was mere coincidence that after Gelnar’s final appearance the scouts left town. No more than three stayed around for the final three nights.

On September 16 the Norman Transcript observed that John could be the ace of the Sooner team next spring; on October 1 the Mangum Star-News reported:

Gelnar Is Signed By Pittsburgh Pirates

Johnny Gelnar, 19-year-old Granite righthander, has signed a bonus contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates professional baseball team.

Bob Zuk, Pirate scout from Oklahoma City, said Gelnar agreed to terms for a “substantial bonus,” but did not disclose the actual amount.

Gelnar, 6-2 by 185, reports this week to the Pirates winter instructional club in Chandler, Ariz. Next spring he will train with the parent club in Florida.

Zuk, in announcing the signing, said, “We sincerely think that he has a very bright future ahead of him in professional baseball.”

Gelnar pitched for Granite highschool and was an All-Stater there when he graduated in 1961. He pitched during summers for Mangum’s American Legion team.

Ray Hogan, who coached him in Legion baseball, said, “Johnny has always had a good arm and a good curve ball. While he was playing Legion ball, he needed to be a little stronger so he could throw harder. Apparently, he has gained enough strength in the past year that all the scouts were interested in him. No one has been able to hit his curve since he was 15 years old.”

After leaving here, Gelnar attended the University of Oklahoma one year. He was the outstanding pitcher on the Sooners’ freshman team, drawing praise from both freshman coach Bob Hembree and varsity coach Jack Baer.

This past summer, Gelnar led all pitchers in the Oklahoma City Industrial League while toiling with the Oklahoma Natural Gassers. He posted a 6-0 won-lost record, had an 0.18 earned run average and struck out 80 batters in 51 innings.

Scouts from nearly every major-league team kept their eyes on him all summer. Gelnar investigated several offers before deciding on the Pirates. Gelnar is the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Gelnar of Granite.

That fall in the Arizona Instructional League, John was 2-3 with a 4.32 ERA in 50 innings. On December 1 he filled out a questionnaire, saying that he had no nickname, his nationality was German and Czech, his hobbies were “golf etc.” and his ambition was to start a World Series game.

Though on the roster of Kinston of the Class A Carolina League, John was indeed invited to spring training 1963 with Pittsburgh. Before long, though, he was sent to the minor league complex, run by Larry Shepard, the manager of the AAA Columbus Jets. He pitched in exhibition games for Columbus, but late in the spring Shepard sent him to the Asheville Tourists of the Class AA Sally League, where he began the regular season.

On April 27 John got his first victory, against Augusta. After three starts he was 2-0 with a 1.52 ERA in 24 innings. From the June 8 Augusta Chronicle:

Bonus baby flips Yanks with 2-hitter

By Paul Hemphill

Asheville righthander John Gelnar, a 19-year-old bonus baby trying to grow into his income tax bracket, fired a sparkling two-hit shutout at Augusta Friday night in his first route-going performance as a professional to end the Sally League leaders’ winning streak at six games.

The score was 8-0, and the maestro for the evening at sultry Jennings Stadium had to be Gelnar, who has approximately $80,000 in Pittsburgh Pirate bonus money in his pocket and won’t be 20 until June 25…

From the Mangum Star, July 25:

Gelnar Shines In 1^st Pro Season

Johnny Gelnar, relaxing here on a week-long vacation from his first season in professional baseball with the Pittsburg Pirates chain, said, “I learn something every time I get out on the ball field. That’s the best part about it.”

Gelnar, right-handed pitching ace for the Asheville Tourists in the Class AA Sally League, gained a vacation to be on hand for the wedding of his older brother, Charles, to Miss Kay Wright.

The wavy-haired Granite youngster already has made a name for himself in the professional ranks…

What are the major changes between amateur and professional baseball? “It’s a lot tougher. Baseball becomes more of a science,” Gelnar claimed. “All I used to try to do was throw the ball over. Now I throw at certain spots.”

Putting the difference into a nutshell, Gelnar said, “It’s my business now.”

“There aren’t any weak spots in the batting order. Now and then you can find boys you can pitch to, but in amateur baseball, the batting order usually was pretty weak after the fifth or sixth man.”

To learn about the opposing batters, Gelnar constantly watches their movements—whether he’s on the mound hurling or sitting in the dugout on an off day…

Wrapping up, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Gelnar conceded, “They told me when I signed up, it would be rough. It is.”

John wound up the year with a 12-5 record and 3.04 ERA in 169 innings, striking out 134 and walking 67. After the season he was moved to the major league roster to protect him from the draft. The October 5 Sporting News listed him on the roster for the Pirates’ team in the Arizona Instructional League, but he did not play in any games there.

On February 2, 1964, John got married, and ten days later he signed his Pirate contract. The March 21 Sporting News mentioned that he was one of five Pirates honeymooning at spring training. Soon after he was reassigned to Columbus, and on April 11 he combined with a reliever to pitch a shutout against Dallas of the Pacific Coast League. The next day’s Columbus Dispatch reported:

Saturday’s winning pitcher, John Gelnar, saved a bushel of money in telephone bills by marrying his home-town sweetie-pie late last season [no, February]. The report (from his manager at Asheville in the Sally League) was that Gelnar spent over $1200 in long-distance calls to his “intended” during the season…

On April 26 John made his first start of the regular season, lasting just 2 2/3 innings and losing 5-1. After he lasted just a third of an inning in his second start he was demoted back to Asheville. A sore arm plagued him all season, and he made just seven starts for Asheville, going 3-1 with a 3.53 ERA in 51 innings. Still, he was called up by Pittsburgh on July 28.

John made his major league debut on August 4, at home in the second game of a doubleheader against the Dodgers. He was the fourth Pirate pitcher, coming in to start the seventh, down 9-4; his first inning was three-up, three-down, as he retired Ron Fairly, Tommy Davis, and Derrell Griffith. The Pirates made it 9-6 in the bottom of the inning, and then John gave up a run in the eighth on a single by John Roseboro, a sacrifice bunt by Ron Perranoski, and a single by Junior Gilliam. John was then pinch-hit for by Donn Clendenon, and the final score was 10-7.

On the 7th John pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth in a 7-3 home loss to the Cubs, during which he got his first major league strikeout, against Billy Williams. He made four more relief appearances in August, then sat out September due to his arm problems before pitching the final inning in the last game of the season on October 4. In his seven games with the Pirates he had a 5.00 ERA in nine innings, striking out four, walking one, and allowing two homers, to Charley Smith and Dick Allen.

The Pirates sent John to their fall instructional league team, now in the Florida East Coast Instructional League, where he was 6-1 with a 1.89 ERA in 38 innings, allowed just 23 hits while striking out 30, and pitched a no-hitter in a seven-inning game; seemingly his arm was better. Again he was kept on the major league roster over the off-season.

John started spring training 1965 with Pittsburgh, again being sent to the minor league camp in the latter part of March. 

An April 1 Columbus Dispatch article reported that Larry Shepard expected John to be his number one starter for the Jets, adding:

No less of an authority than Danny Murtaugh seconded Shepard’s motion here Wednesday. Murtaugh was managing Pittsburgh late last season when Gelnar was brought up from the Pirates’ Asheville farm club in the Southern League.

“John’s best asset—besides his natural ability—is his baseball intelligence, and eager willingness to learn,” says Murtaugh, who is in the camp here as an advisor and appraiser for Pittsburgh. “The kid (he’ll be 22 in June) has intense desire, and as I told Shep the other day, John should win 14-15 games for Columbus this season.”

John didn’t come close to 14-15 wins, but not because he didn’t pitch well. From the July 3 Sporting News:

GELNAR JETS’ LUCK CHARM

John Gelnar, rookie righthander, is something of a luck charm to Columbus. Of the first 13 games he started, the Jets won 11, yet his personal record was only 4-1. That’s because he seldom finishes what he starts. Usually he holds the opposition to one or two runs through seven or eight innings, only to have a Jet reliever pick up the victory. Sam Jones was the benefactor for the fourth time in a Gelnar game, June 16, when Columbus rallied for three runs in the last inning at Buffalo to win, 4-2. The victory was No. 6 for Jones against one setback.

On June 29 John finished a game as a base umpire after an injury forced one of them out; on July 14 he was used as a pinch-runner, which actually happened a number of times during his minor league career. 

For the season he had a 9-7 record with 12 no-decisions in his 28 starts, with a 2.84 ERA, 107 strikeouts and 42 walks in 190 innings; Sam Jones had seven wins in games John started. The Jets were considered the league champions due to finishing in first place, though they lost in the finals of the playoffs. Afterwards John was voted the league’s second-best pitching prospect, behind teammate Steve Blass, and was recalled to the Pittsburgh roster, though not to report until spring training.

In 1966, for the fourth year, John was sent from major league to minor league spring training in late March, winding up with Columbus. From the March 30 Columbus Dispatch:

Gelnar Ready to Go

By Eddie Fisher

Dispatch Sports Writer

DAYTONA, Fla.—Still smarting, but smart enough to be still, John Gelnar didn’t have much to say when he finally arrived for spring training here Tuesday noon.

The young righthander wouldn’t disclose what—if any—reasoning was behind the Pittsburgh Pirates demoting him to Columbus last Friday…

Gelnar did concede his dismay was behind him and that he figures on an even better performance than the one which helped Columbus win last year’s championship.

The next day the same newspaper reported that “John Gelnar claims the Pirates admitted they didn’t have any particular reason for sending him back to the Jets, other than that he’s only 22 and still had plenty of time to ‘make it’ to the majors.” John again spent the whole season with Columbus, except for time missed due to National Guard duty obligations. 

He was 12-9 with a 3.54 ERA in 183 innings in 27 starts. He then pitched another 110 innings for Aguilas in the Dominican Winter League, with a 5-9 record and 3.11 ERA. From the Sporting News, January 21, 1967:

Gelnar is pitching in the Dominican Republic and his record isn’t good, but [Pirate GM Joe] Brown saw him down there and comes readily to his defense.

“The last time I looked, he was 2-10 [sic] and had lost nine straight, but this was a deceiving record,” Brown added.

“Gelnar was discouraged, but I told him his won-and-lost record didn’t bother us.

“All we were interested in was his arm and whether he thought he was a better pitcher now than the year before. He said his arm is fine and he knows he’s a better pitcher.

“We also found out his team hadn’t scored more than two runs in any game he pitched. He may have a great deal to say about the makeup of our pitching staff this spring.”

This year John lasted until April 3 with the Pirates in spring training before being sent to the minor league camp and the Columbus Jets. From the April 25 Columbus Dispatch:

Gelnar Will Be Early Bird

By Eddie Fisher

John Richard Gelnar isn’t apt to be late for his very important date at Jet Stadium Wednesday night.

The foot-draggin’ cowboy from Oklahoma already has earned the honor of being the opening-game pitcher for Columbus as the Jets and Buffalo launch their 1967 International League schedules.

Game time is 7:30 and the gates open at 6, but Gelnar won’t be taking any chances. He’s likely to be in uniform and ready to “crank up” as early as 5 p.m.

It’s not that the 23-year-old righthander dotes on punctuality. It’s just that the first time Gelnar earned such an assignment, he showed up in the second inning.

That was in 1963 at Asheville, N.C., in what was then the Sally League (now called the Southern).

It was Gelnar’s first year in pro ball, and the 19-year-old rookie so impressed the manager of the Tourists, Roy Hathaway, during spring training at Daytona, Fla., that the season-opening job was his reward.

Three days before the Asheville club broke camp, Gelnar was given permission to go home.

“The plane coming back was late,” he recalls, “and by the time I arrived at the ball park, the game had already started.”

Hathaway contemplated fining Gelnar, but by game’s end, all was forgiven, for the substitute (Troy Giles) pitched a shutout.

Gelnar, dubbed “Gomer Pyle” by teammates of previous seasons, assures he won’t need an alarm clock or wake-up service this time. He intends to throw the first pitch (and the last one) in Wednesday’s opener…

[Recap of Gelnar’s career]…Last season, still with Columbus, Gelnar wasn’t near what everyone anticipated. He was 12-9, which wasn’t too bad, but he allowed 197 hits in 183 innings and his ERA went up to 3.54.

“I just lost my rhythm,” he admitted last week, “but I feel I’ve found it again.”

Those are the sentiments, too, of his manager, Pete Peterson. Gelnar pitched for Peterson this past winter in the Dominican League and was a better pitcher than his record, and looked good again in the Jet camp this spring.

Also impressed with Gelnar is Clyde King, pitching coach for the Pirates, who worked with him in the Pittsburgh camp last month at Fort Myers. “John has a good fast ball if it sinks,” volunteered the ex-Jet manager. “His curve ball is adequate and so is his control. I look for him to have a fine year.”

Opening night was postponed 24 hours by rain, but John won, 6-2. He again missed time to National Guard duty but had a good year; he was named to the All-Star Game but didn’t pitch due to a sore arm. Four days after the ASG, on August 4, he was called up to Pittsburgh.

Due to the sore arm, it didn’t go well. John made his first major league start on August 8 in Chicago, but lasted just 1 1/3 inning, allowing four earned runs on two walks and three hits—a homer by Randy Hundley and two doubles. After that he had four scoreless relief appearances followed by five non-scoreless relief appearances, ending his ten-game Pirate stint with an 8.05 ERA in 19 innings. With Columbus he had gone 10-4 with a 2.80 ERA in 148 innings, striking out just 71—his strikeout ratio had gone down each year of his minor-league career—and walking just 29. The Pirates kept him on their roster for the off-season.

Because of his National Guard commitments, John was late in reporting to spring training 1968. On March 25 the Columbus Dispatch pointed out that he was out of options, which meant that if he were sent down he could not be called back up, so it would be an indication that the Pirates had given up on him; they added that “the Pirates protected him from the draft last fall and kept him on their roster, but the word from Fort Myers is that Gelnar either will be traded or shipped back to the Jets.” Three days later he was indeed sent down. The Dispatch reported on April 18:

John Gelnar had a 10-4 record and a low earned-run average when the Pittsburgh Pirates summoned him from Columbus last Aug. 5.

He also had a sore arm, but chose to keep it a secret. He didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to stay in the majors.

The results were predictable. Gelnar was rocked for 30 hits in 19 innings, he was wild, and his ERA was an eye-aching 8.05.

Because of military commitments with his National Guard unit in Oklahoma City, the 24-year-old righthander reported late to the Pirates this spring at their camp in Ft. Myers, Fla.

“I tried to get in shape too soon,” Gelnar reveals, “and I hurt my arm again. I guess they figured it was a chronic ailment, so they shipped me back to Columbus.”

Thus Gelnar’s options expired. Pittsburgh can’t recall him. If he should have a big year with the Jets, the Pirates can capitalize financially only, by selling him to some other major league club for a tidy sum.

It was a glum, but willing Gelnar who reported to Manager John Pesky and the Jets at Daytona after his dismissal from Ft. Myers.

Then things—all good—started to happen to the tall Oklahoman.

Firstly, he camped under the wing of one Harvey Haddix, the Jets’ professorial pitching coach.

Haddix eyed Gelnar’s first workout closely and quickly spotted glaring flaws.

“John had no coordination,” Haddix surmised. “The timing of his body and his arm was way off. It looked like he was jumping off the mound and lunging at the batter to get the ball to the plate. That motion and delivering only aggravated his arm, so we corrected it.”

“We corrected it” was an understatement.

Against Rochester on April 11, Gelnar pitched five shutout innings, yielded only three hits. He functioned free and easy and felt fine.

Gelnar worked four days later, again against the Red Wings. He got careless a couple of times and was untracked, but still delivered four appreciable innings.

Because his arm apparently is sound again and because he’s a veteran at a young age, Gelnar was Pesky’s pick to pitch the International League opener at Jet Stadium Saturday afternoon against Buffalo…

John won the opener, 6-2, and had a single, a double, and three RBI. From the April 21 Dispatch:

“I’ve never been so tired in my life,” confided the pleasant blond Gelnar, known as “Gomer” among his teammates. “The longest I’ve gone this spring is 5 innings.”

Soaking his right elbow in a pail of ice cubes, John confided what had been suspected from the press box: “I threw almost all curve balls in the late innings.” But, though he obviously was tiring, they were effective.

From the Sporting News, May 18:

‘JET SET’ MUSICIANS

Four Columbus players have formed a musical group called “The Jet Set.” With Larry Killingsworth and Manny Sanguillen on guitars, Dave Roberts on drums and John Gelnar vocalizing, the group made its first public appearance at a Columbus shopping center May 4, and got good reviews in local papers.

I didn’t find any later references to The Jet Set, but then Killingsworth got sent down to AA in June.

Through June 12 John was leading the league in wins, with an 8-1 record and a 1.62 ERA. He got a feature article in the Sporting News of July 13, contributed by the Dispatch’s Eddie Fisher:

Jets Boast Hot Draft Bait In Mound Ace John Gelnar

By Eddie Fisher

COLUMBUS, O.—The Pittsburgh Pirates have a hot item in their freezer, available to the highest bidder.

He’s a 25-year-old pitcher named John Gelnar, who, as they say in baseball parlance, is “frozen.”

That means his options have expired and the Pirates can’t have him back unless all other major league clubs bypass him in the annual draft late next fall.

That’s quite unlikely, for the tall righthander from Oklahoma has had an outstanding spring for Pittsburgh’s International League entry, the Columbus Jets.

As of his 25^th birthday (June 25), Gelnar owned an 8-2 record with an earned-run average of 2.16 (it was 1.62 through his first ten starts).

He had seven complete (nine-inning) games and, in one remarkable streak of control pitching, had walked only seven batters in 85 innings.

His prize effort was against power-laden Buffalo at Niagara Falls May 15. Big Bob Chance struck for a first-inning homer off Gelnar and that was the Bisons’ only entry in the hit column for the night. Gelnar faced only 29 batters.

Another supreme performance was in Jacksonville June 2. Gelnar needed only 82 pitches to subdue the Mets, 3-1, with a four-hitter.

Gelnar, together with Louisville’s Galen Cisco and Toledo’s Jim Rooker, had eyes on becoming the Int’s first 20-game winners since Lynn Lovenguth of Toronto bagged 24 in 1956.

That worthy ambition could be disrupted by the National Guard. Gelnar was confronted with a 15-day military call in Michigan starting July 13, which would deprive him of as many as four starts for Manager John Pesky’s Jets.

“I think I can still make it,” the hard-throwing righthander insisted.

Gelnar was 10-4 at Columbus last season when the parent Pirates recalled him August 5.

At that time, however, he was having arm trouble…

“I realize now that it was foolish not to tell them about my arm,” Gelnar conceded, “but maybe it’ll all work out for the best.”

“The best” now would be advantageous both to Gelnar and the Pirates. On the open baseball market, he probably would be worth upwards of $75,000 to any of the four expansion clubs in the majors, if not to any of the 19 current teams. Or the Bucs could us him as trade material for needs of their own. Either way, John Richard Gelnar figures to be pitching in the big leagues—possibly before the 1968 season ends…

After that 8-1 high point John lost his next seven decisions, while the Jets scored a total of 12 runs. He broke the streak on July 25, hitting a home run and a single while beating Louisville 4-2. He missed the first half of August due to the National Guard, and then on August 19 he was purchased by the Kansas City Royals, one of the expansion clubs to begin play in 1969, to report to them in spring training. He ended the season with a 10-10 record and 3.10 ERA in 183 innings in 25 starts. He pitched a shutout in the playoffs as second-place Columbus beat third-place Rochester, then lost a game in the finals as the Jets lost to fourth-place Jacksonville. Afterwards he was added to the Kansas City major league roster.

John went to spring training 1969 with a new team, in more ways than one, but with the same result, as the Royals sent him to their minor league base on March 24. A week later he was traded to the other American League expansion team, the Seattle Pilots, as a throw-in in a trade of outfielders, Steve Whitaker going to the Pilots and Lou Piniella to the Royals. The Pilots assigned him to the Vancouver Mounties of the Pacific Coast League, where he did a mixture of starting and relieving. On May 5 the Pilots called John, who was just coming off the disabled list, and two other Mounties to Portland to pitch for them in an exhibition game against the PCL Portland Beavers; John pitched two scoreless innings and got the win.

On May 28, having pitched 39 innings for Vancouver with a 4.15 ERA, John was called up to the Pilots while Darrell Brandon was sent down. This meant that John would appear in Ball Four, Jim Bouton’s classic diary of the 1969 season. He made his Pilots debut on the 28^th, pitching a scoreless eighth and ninth in a 9-5 home loss to the Orioles.

After three more scoreless relief appearances came a memorable game on June 9 in Detroit. It was a 1-1 tie through nine innings, Marty Pattin dueling Mickey Lolich. Pat Dobson relieved Lolich in the tenth after Lolich was pinch-hit for, and the Pilots scored twice off him on two walks, a single, and a sacrifice fly. As Pattin had been pinch-hit for during the rally, Diego Segui came in for the bottom of the tenth. He gave up a single, a walk, and another single, making it a 3-2 game with runners on first and third and nobody out. Lefty John O’Donoghue came in to pitch and struck out Norm Cash, then walked Jim Northrup to load the bases.

Next John was brought in to face Willie Horton, and he struck him out. The next batter was Tom Matchick; according to Ball Four, several days after the game John told some of the other players about the conversation he had at this point with manager Joe Schultz:

Joe Schultz is not like [pitching coach] Sal [Maglie] with the pitchers. Gelnar was telling us about this great conversation he had with Joe on the mound. There were a couple of guys on and Tom Matchick was up. “Any particular way you want me to pitch him, Joe?” Gelnar said.

“Nah, fuck him,” Joe Schultz said. “Give him some low smoke and we’ll go in and pound some Budweiser.”

From Hy Zimmerman’s story in the following day’s Seattle Times:

Marty Pattin, who earlier had been walking the floor, now was walking on air. After six stumbles, he had earned his sixth victory with some dramatic, tenth-inning aid from his teammates.

He watched from the dugout as John Gelnar, with the bases thick with Tigers and only one out in the tenth inning, pulled their claws for a 3-2 triumph by the Pilots.

And Marty, visibly elated and fatigued, physically and emotionally, said:

“I was walking the floor and chewing my nails during all that. No…what can I say? I’m simply happy, happy.

“Gelnar did a great, great job. And on that final out, I jumped up and shook just about everyone’s hand…”

“And how about that Gelnar?” asked Schultz. It really wasn’t a question but an expression of appreciation. Gelnar faced two batters, struck out the first, got the second on an easy grounder.

Gelnar said: “I know it was a tough spot but, strangely, I wasn’t nervous. And that surprised me. I hope I’m here to stay.”

And per Ball Four:

After the game Joe Schultz said, “Attaway to stomp on ‘em, men. Pound that Budweiser into you and go get ‘em tomorrow.” Then he spotted Gelnar sucking out of a pop bottle. “For crissakes, Gelnar,” Joe Schultz said, “You’ll never get them out drinking Dr. Pepper.”

John next pitched five days later, getting his first major league victory by pitching a perfect eighth inning against the Yankees in New York before the Pilots rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth for a 5-4 win. At this point he had pitched 8 2/3 innings in six games without allowing a run, and it earned him a spot in the starting rotation. His first start was a 6-2 loss at home against the Royals on the 20th, giving up five runs, three earned, in six innings. His second start was on the 25^th; from the following day’s Seattle Times:

Gelnar’s Cross-Seam Pitch Stops White Sox

By Dick Rockne

You might say John Gelnar today is on the “seamy” side of 26.

Gelnar, Seattle right-hander, last night on his 26^th birthday earned credit for pitching the Pilots to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox in Sicks’ Stadium. It was his second win in three decisions.

He did it by relying on two varieties of fastballs.

What’s the difference?

“The one with the seams sinks,” John said. “The cross-seamed one tends to ride.”

So what?

“I got the double plays with the cross-seamed pitch,” he said.

Gelnar, in 6 2-3 innings, allowed eight hits. After retiring the first six Sox in order he pitched in some peril. But double plays in the third and sixth innings got him out of potential hot water.

In the seventh, the Sox loaded the bases with two out.

Carlos May, a left-handed hitter with 15 home runs, walked into the batter’s box and Joe Schultz, Pilot manager, walked to the mound. Gelnar was excused in favor of John O’Donoghue, a left-hander.

“Yes, the move was just a percentage one,” Schultz said. “Gelnar said he wasn’t tiring, but we wanted a left-hander to pitch to May.”

So O’Donoghue came in and got May to chase Tommy Davis to the warning track where the left-fielder ended the inning with a good catch.

The 6 2-3 innings was the longest Gelnar has worked since becoming a Pilot May 28.

“No, I didn’t feel tired, but I agree with Joe that the move was a good one—you want the left-hander in there.”

Gelnar, in 21 1-3 innings, has the lowest earned-run average on the club—1.71. That is not bad for a player who was a throw-in on the preseason trade that sent Lou Piniella to Kansas City in exchange for Steve Whitaker, both outfielders.

Gelnar was sent to Vancouver, the Pilots’ Triple-A farm club. There he lost his first decision and then went on the injury list—the elbow in his pitching arm acted up. It appeared then that the season would be another verse of a familiar song.

Gelnar has been in professional baseball since 1963. He has clung to the minor leagues—Asheville and Columbus of the Pittsburgh organization. Twice, in 1964 and in 1967, he was given shots at the bigs with the Pirates.

“The trials were not fair ones,” Gelnar said. “Each time the elbow bothered me.”

But the Pirates gave up on him and the Royals made a purchase. Then, just before the season started, K.C. traded him to Seattle.

“Like many players in the minors I was despondent,” Gelnar said of his history. “But I always clung to the idea that I could pitch in the major leagues if given the proper opportunity.

“For the chance I’m getting here I have got to give credit to Marvin Milkes and the Pilots.”

Milkes, Pilot general manager, has said that whenever he makes a trade he likes to get an extra player, a throw-in that will at least populate a minor-league farm.

Gelnar, so far, has been some throw-in.

John then lost his next five starts. Along the way, on July 13, the Pilots lost a doubleheader in Minnesota. From Ball Four:

While we were losing the first game of the doubleheader—we were down 5-1 and it was going to be our third straight here—Joe Schultz called down to John Gelnar, who was keeping the pitching chart. “C’mere a minute,” he said, motioning Gelnar down to the other end of the dugout. Gelnar was sure he was going to get a big tip on pitching. And Joe Schultz, pointing up into the stands, said, “Up there near the Section 23 sign. Check the rack on that broad!”

The fifth of John’s consecutive lost starts was on July 20, at home against the Twins; before that game the two teams finished the previous night’s game, which had been suspended at the beginning of the 17^th inning with the teams tied at seven. The Pilots had used six pitchers already, so John was brought in to try to finish off that game before starting the scheduled game; he allowed four earned runs in 1 1/3 inning and Seattle lost 11-7. John then lost his start, 4-0, giving him two losses in one day, both to Jim Perry.

At that point, his ERA at 3.75, John was moved back into the bullpen. From the Ball Four entry for July 24:

If you want to know what aspect of the moon landing was discussed most, in the bullpen it was the sex life of the astronauts. We thought it a terrible arrangement that they should go three weeks or more without any sex life. Gelnar said that if those scientists were really on the ball they would have provided three germ-free broads for the astronauts.

John was in the bullpen most of the rest of the season. On July 25 he got the loss, giving him a record of 2-8. On July 31 he was used as a pinch-hitter for Steve Barber, striking out against Darold Knowles for the final out in a 7-6 home loss to the Senators. On August 3 he pitched 5 2/3 innings of scoreless relief in a home loss to the Yankees; that same day he filled out a questionnaire. He left the nickname field blank, gave an address in Mangum, and fudged a year and said he was born in 1944. For “circumstances leading up to your being offered your first contract” he put “athletic skills,” for “tell about your greatest thrill in baseball” he put “have none,” and for “most difficult thing to do in baseball, in your personal experience” he put “fielding-throwing-hitting.” He gave his hobbies as “golfing-hunting-fishing,” his winter occupation as stock broker, and his baseball hero as teammate Greg Goossen.

After that long relief appearance John got another start on August 9, but only lasted one inning against the Senators in Washington. The Pilots came back to win that game, but the next day he was back in the bullpen and got the loss. He got starts on August 30 and September 4, pitching reasonably well but getting a no decision and a loss. He then finished the season with eight more relief appearances, getting a win along the way for 3-10 record; he pitched well, though, with a 3.31 ERA in 108 2/3 innings in 39 games, ten of them starts, striking out 69 and walking 26.

In the October 19 Seattle Times, Robert Heilman devoted his “Man About Town” column to the off-season plans of the Pilots, including: “Ambitious regular Pitcher John Gelnar figured to attend classes in financial analysis school in St. Louis, and then—come January—on to Oklahoma City and work as a stock broker there in his home town.”

John was delayed on his way to the Pilots’ 1970 spring training in Tempe, Arizona, by a snowstorm in Albuquerque. On February 27 Hy Zimmerman reported in the Seattle Times:

John Gelnar, without extra footwork, has dog trouble. He broke a toenail on each foot and is stepping lightly. Nevertheless, he is cheerful.

He is the hard-luck right-hander who had a 3-10 record, although he pitched much better than the record would indicate. He said yesterday:

“I just can’t be that unlucky again. Besides, I put on 12 pounds that I needed. I feel stronger than last year.

“Maybe I can turn that 3-10 around.”

At the end of spring training, after months of uncertainty, the Pilots were sold and moved to Milwaukee. From an April 1 Seattle Times article by Hy Zimmerman on the reactions of the players:

The players who spent a season in Seattle were more touched emotionally. And John Gelnar, right-handed relief pitcher, said:

“I have mixed emotions. I really enjoyed Seattle. I met some tremendous people and they are the ones I feel sorry for. I think we would have given Seattle a better ball club. I know nothing about Milwaukee: I’m relieved, but I feel sorry.”

John, who had relieved in the final Seattle Pilots game, relieved in the initial Milwaukee Brewers game, at home against the Angels. Starter Lew Krausse was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the third, down 3-0, and John came in to start the fourth. The first batter reached second base on an error; after two doubles and a single John was removed, beginning his season with an ERA of infinity. Spending the year in the bullpen, he got that mark down to 4.19 on June 6, but then had a rough patch. From the August 3 Milwaukee Sentinel:

Gelnar Says:

‘My Breaking Stuff Worked’

Probably the proudest guy in the Brewers’ dressing room after Sunday’s 9-5 victory over the Yankees was winning pitcher John Gelnar, who evened his record at 3-3 while pitching the final two and two-thirds innings.

Gelnar took over for starter Skip Lockwood with the score tied at 5-all and then coasted through the final two innings.

“In the past I’ve always depended upon a sneaky fast ball,” Gelnar said. “But in one of my recent relief appearances I was tagged for seven straight hits, all of them coming off what I thought was my bread and butter fast ball deliveries.

“I decided it was time to make a change. I’ve been working with a slider, a plain old-fashioned round house and a lot of breaking stuff to go along with an occasional fast ball.

“That’s what I did this afternoon and the Yankees, when they did hit the ball, were knocking it at someone. Then I managed to get third strikes past two batters in the ninth and it was all over.”

This marked Gelnar’s 35^th appearance. He didn’t allow a run, although he did give up one hit in the ninth.

How does he keep relaxed?

“I like to play golf, and I shoot in the 80s most of the time,” John declared. “I find that’s a good way to keep sharp.”

John pitched very well the rest of the season and ended up with a 4.19 ERA in 92 1/3 innings in a career-high 53 games, with 48 strikeouts and 23 walks. In a phone interview reported on in the November 11 Milwaukee Sentinel by Lou Chapman, teammate Tommy Harper said “I don’t want to give anyone the idea I’m trying to run the club, but I’d like to see John Gelnar get a chance to start.” John by then was pitching for Mayaguez in the Puerto Rican Winter League, but I didn’t find any stats.

John signed a new Brewers contract in February 1971, but didn’t get his chance to start; in fact, once the regular season began, he barely got a chance to pitch. In the team’s 18^th game, on April 28, he made his first appearance, pitching a scoreless fifth inning in a 10-3 loss in Boston. In the next game, two days later in New York, he came in to start the sixth, down 3-0, and after retiring the first batter allowed a single, a walk, and a double before being removed. Then he sat until May 11, when he was traded with minor league infielder Jose Herrera to Detroit for pitcher Jim Hannan. From the next day’s Milwaukee Sentinel:

Gelnar, expressing surprise at his trade, said he “didn’t get a chance—not at all.

“When you pitch two innings in one and a half months, that’s not much of an opportunity,” he said, “although I grant you there weren’t too many chances with our pitchers doing so well.”

Gelnar said Jim Campbell, the Tigers’ president, assured him he would be brought up once he works himself into shape on the Toledo farm.

From the July 10 Sporting News:

SHUTOUT SPECIALIST

With 13,008 Pony Night fans roaring their disapproval at Rochester June 19, righthander John Gelnar hurled his second straight shutout as Toledo blanked the Red Wings, 5-0. In attempting to explain his sudden reversal of form, Gelnar, who had lost his first three starts after being sent down by Detroit a month earlier, said: “The Detroit people told me they were sending me to Toledo until I got into condition, then they’d consider bringing me back to the Tigers. Well, I’ve worked hard, now that I’ve had my chances to pitch, and I believe I’m on my way at last!”

It didn’t happen though. John completed the season with Toledo, finishing with a 4-9 record and 4.18 ERA in 125 innings in 26 games, 16 of them starts. He was a strikeout pitcher for the first time since 1964, fanning 93 while walking 31.

For 1972 the Tigers sent John back to Toledo, though he opened the regular season on the disabled list. In May, still on the DL, they released him, and a few weeks later he was picked up by the Tacoma Twins, Minnesota’s AAA team in the Pacific Coast League. He was used primarily as a starter by Tacoma, and pitched a shutout on August 11. From a September 16 Sporting News feature on teammate Jim Holt, who was having a big year at the plate:

…Enter John Gelnar, former major league pitcher, now toiling for Tacoma in an effort to regain past status. Gelnar, a Caucasian, has shared an apartment with Holt and Glenn Ezell, the two blacks on the Tacoma team.

Gelnar, an Oklahoman, calls Holt “the finest person I’ve ever met. He’s super. I’m from the South, but there isn’t anything in the world I wouldn’t do for him, and I think he’d do the same for me.”

Gelnar joined Tacoma at Tucson in May.

“I knew John when I was playing for Minnesota and he was playing for Seattle and Milwaukee in the American League,” Holt recalled. “When he met us in Tucson, he said he didn’t have a place to stay. It was late at night when we returned to Tacoma, so I asked him if he wanted to spend the night at our apartment.

“In the Army,” Holt recalled of his three-year service stint, “we all lived together, black and white, whether we liked it or not.”

“One thing about it,” Gelnar added, “I’ve learned a lot about black music.”

Gelnar appreciates the music Holt’s bat makes, but he adds: “I wish he’d get some of those hits when I’m pitching. For some reason, he usually doesn’t.”

Maybe that’s the secret PCL pitchers have been trying to discover.

For Tacoma John went 3-7 with a 4.31 ERA in 94 innings in 22 games, 16 of them starts. That concluded his professional career. A Seattle Times “where are they now” article on the Pilots in August 1989 said that he “Works in oil leasing business in Frederick, Okla.” A similar Times article in July 2006 said “Gelnar, 63, went into the oil business after baseball, and is now a rancher and farmer in Hobart, Okla.” He still lives in Hobart.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/G/Pgelnj101.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gelnajo01.shtml