Jim Pankovits
James Franklin Pankovits is an American professional baseball coach, a former Major League Baseball infielder and minor league manager. In MLB, he appeared in 318 games played, 316 of them with the Houston Astros. Pankovits was a manager in the minor leagues for 17 years, most recently in 2019 with the Lynchburg Hillcats, the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.
Professional career
The, Pankovits was selected by the Astros in the fourth round of the 1976 [Major League Baseball draft] from the University of South Carolina. During his six-year Major League career, Pankovits was used primarily as a pinch hitter and occasional second baseman. In one instance, he even caught an inning of a game . In his career, he hit.250 with nine home runs and 55 RBI. His best season came in as a member of the National League West Division champion Astros, when he hit.283 in 70 games as the primary back up to Bill Doran.Late in his playing career, Pankovits appeared in two games for the Boston Red Sox in September as defensive replacement—without logging a plate appearance—then began his managing career in the Red Sox' farm system in 1992. He returned to the Astro organization in 1995, serving through 2010 as a minor league manager at the Class A, Short Season-A and Double-A levels, and as a roving infield instructor. He then joined the Mariners' system in 2011 as manager of the Double-A Jackson, Tennessee, Generals of the Southern League. Coincidentally, he had managed a different franchise with the same name—the Jackson, Mississippi, Generals (Texas League)|Generals] of the Double-A Texas League—in 1998–99 when it was an Astro affiliate.
After three seasons as Jackson's pilot, Pankovits assumed a position with the Mariners in as a roving minor league infield instructor. His career record as a minor-league manager is 938–1,010. As the manager of Mahoning Valley of the Short-season New York–Penn League, he is a member of the Cleveland Indians' organization.