Glinatsis recalls Major milestone

The Boardman native made his major-league debut as a pitcher with the Seattle Mariners 15 years ago

By GREG GULAS

Vindicator Correspondent

The 1994 baseball season was both a blessing and a curse for George Glinatsis.

The Boardman High and University of Cincinnati graduate made his Major League Baseball debut 15 years ago today with the Seattle Mariners when he was called up from the parent club’s Class AA affiliate, the Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League, drawing the starting assignment against the hard-hitting Baltimore Orioles.

A pitcher with excellent control, a better than average fastball and a slider that many considered his out-pitch, Glinatsis recalled his queasy stomach and the nervousness he experienced as game time approached.

“The game was on a Monday, but I got the news from Suns pitching coach, Jeff Andrews, as we were riding the bus to play at Huntsville, AL the previous Wednesday.

“I was on the second bus and was scheduled to start that night. I had started out in Class A with Riverside of the California League but got promoted to Class AA where I had several good starts. I was really feeling good about myself since that first promotion.

“He [Andrews] stood up, singled me out by telling me to take off my head phones and proceeded to say that I was being scratched as the game’s starter. That’s all that he said.

“I could only wonder why but it later made sense when we arrived at the park. Our skipper, Mark “Booter” Hill, the former San Francisco Giants catcher, called me into his office and said we needed help up top.

“It was a pleasant surprise to say the least,” Glinatsis said.

Still five days away from his scheduled debut with the Mariners, Glinatsis accompanied his Huntsville teammates to Chattanooga for their weekend series with the Lookouts.

He called that ensuing bus trip the best ride he had ever taken during his professional career, noting that the call that night to his late mother, Elizabeth (she died May 2), the person who he called his greatest supporter, was very emotional.

“I cannot tell you how excited I was to call my mother to tell her of my good fortune. She always kept me strong and on track so we shared a very special phone conversation,” he noted.

Glinatsis flew into Seattle on Sunday, the first time he had ever flown anywhere first-class, spending the day preparing mentally for his mound debut.

“This was always a dream of mine. Ever since watching my brother, Mike, when he pitched professionally in the Giants’ farm system, my goal was to someday make it to the big leagues.

“With my mother and brother, Peter, arriving the day of the game, they helped me get the Pterodactyls out of my stomach,” he noted.

He was greeted in the clubhouse by current Giants pitcher Randy Johnson, who cracked a few jokes and kept him at ease.

In his debut, Glinatsis worked 42‚Ñ3 innings, allowing four hits and five earned runs, striking out one but walking six for a no-decision.

“The Mariners were the front-runners in calling players up from Double-A as opposed to Triple-A. The Double-A players were the up and comers while those in Triple-A were the place-holders; those ready to report on a moment’s notice,” Glinatsis noted.

The first to make it to the show from the 1991 Mariners draft class, Glinatsis was not intimidated while feeling that he belonged from the get-go.

He made his second start on July 24 at Boston, losing his only major league decision to Roger Clemens and the Boston Red Sox, 8-2.

“Mo Vaughn almost took my head off when he batted while Mike Greenwell went 4 for 5 with three runs scored. John Valentin was the real deal and I didn’t get out of the first inning, yet felt with a break or two I could have lasted a little bit longer,” he noted.

The Mariners then headed to Detroit for a three-game set with the Tigers, but the down side to the ’94 campaign was the impending players strike so the Mariners sent their young call-up back to the minors, his fate sealed as he would never pitch again in the major leagues, even when play resumed after the strike the following April 25.

Glinatsis later pitched in the San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks chains, did several months as a member of the Simon Bulls of the Taiwanese Major Leagues but after Tommy John surgery, never returned to the form as when he played with the Mariners.

He played seven seasons in the minors, compiling a 44-47 overall mark with a 4.52 earned run average.

He started 117 of the 158 games in which he appeared, completing seven games while tossing a shutout as well.

“It was bad timing with the strike, but I have nothing negative to say about my major league experience.

“In one short sentence, it was an absolutely great experience,” Glinatsis added.

A sales representative for American Tower in Colorado, a wireless company based in Boston, Mass., that builds cell towers nationwide, Glinatsis celebrated his 40th birthday on June 29 and he and his wife, Sara, a native of Alliance, Neb., welcomed their first child, son George III on July 1.