John Gelnar

[Michael Trzinski]

If ever there was a stereotypical 1950s/1960s teenager, it was John Gelnar. The Granite (Oklahoma) High School student did everything. He was the class president all four years, was the president of the FFA (Future Farmers of America), performed in plays both his junior and senior years, played basketball and baseball all four years, played American Legion ball three years, and was a member of the 1960 Class B champion high school baseball team. The lanky (6-foot-2, 185-pound) right-handed fireballer drew rave reviews from opponents and was compared to the McDaniel brothers from nearby Hollis. Lindy McDaniel pitched in the majors for 21 years while brother Von lasted only two years in the bigs due to arm injuries.

Johnnie Richard Gelnar was born in 1943 and graduated from Granite HS in 1961. He attended the University of Oklahoma and in his first action against the varsity team, struck out 18 batters and allowed one hit as the U of O freshmen beat the varsity, 3-0. He pitched one year with the Sooners and one season with the Oklahoma City Natural Gassers in the non-professional Industrial Major League. In September 1962, the Pittsburgh Pirates and south-central scout Bob Zuk signed him as a free agent.

In his first professional season (1963), Gelnar won 12 games and posted an ERA of 3.04 in 27 starts for Asheville in the Double-A South Atlantic League. The following year Gelnar attended his first big league camp but started out at Triple-A Columbus before getting sent back to Asheville. He got called up by the Pirates in August and made his big league debut on August 4, pitching two innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowing two hits and one run in a 10-7 loss. He finished the season with an ERA+ of 73 and FIP of 4.94 in seven relief appearances.

Gelnar spent the next two seasons at Columbus and most of 1967 there before getting called up to Pittsburgh in August, where he made 10 appearances, including his first major league start. In 1968 he spent the whole year at Columbus but was purchased by the Kansas City Royals after the season. Prior to the start of the 1969 season, Gelnar was traded to the Seattle Pilots. 

He spent most of the season at Triple-A Vancouver before getting called up to Seattle in late May. Gelnar earned his first big league save and win in a span of a week in mid-June, but the Pilots were a bad ball club and Gelnar ended the season with just three wins against 10 losses. His 109 ERA+ and 2.93 FIP were career bests.

In 1970, the team moved to Milwaukee. That season, Gelnar was strictly a reliever and pitched a career-high 53 games and notched four saves for the Brewers and posted an ERA+ of 90 and a FIP of 3.49. Gelnar made two appearances in 1971 for Milwaukee and was then traded to the Detroit Tigers. He finished the season at Triple-A Toledo, appearing 26 times including 16 starts.

Gelnar began 1972 on the Toledo roster but he was purchased by the Minnesota Twins, who assigned the pitcher to Triple-A Tacoma, where he spent the whole year. After posting a 3-7 record with an ERA of 4.31, he was released and would retire from baseball.  

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