Our 11th installment of the continuing Legends Series features a conversation with baseball lifer, Jim Pankovits. During his career with the Astros, he played 316 games at a variety of positions.
Q: You were a 28-year-old rookie when you finally got the call in May of 1984 to join the club. What do you remember about that day?
A: I was the oldest rookie that year. I was actually finishing up a series in Vegas and had flown to Honolulu to play the Hawaii club. When I landed, they informed me they were
calling me up, so I turned around and got on another flight to go back to the mainland and didn’t get into Houston until about 1030 that morning. I was afraid to even take a nap because I didn’t want to oversleep on my call up date, so I went to the ballpark and got my uniform. The next day I got in as a pinch hitter.
Q: That first at bat you got a single. What do you remember about that?
A: Rod Scurry was one of the better closers at that time with the Pirates. He had a real hard slider that he threw with a lot of depth. I battled him on a 3-2 count and got a single and got on base. That at bat set the tone and gave me a lot of confidence that I belonged up there and could play with just about anyone. Getting off to a good start on your first opportunity is really key.
Q: Later that season you’d hit your first career HR off of John Franco. Do you remember what pitch he threw you?
A: It had to have been a fastball, because that’s all I could hit (laughs). The count went deep, it was a three run shot and he was closing for Cincinnati. I hit it good.
Q: The 1986 squad. How special was that group?
A: That was a fun year. Everyone was at their peak. Nolan Ryan had a really good year as he often did, and Mike Scott was simply unhittable. Everyone got along. There were no hidden agendas, everyone pulled together. The icing on the cake was Mike’s no hitter against the Giants.
Q: The mindset of a pinch hitter and staying prepared. How challenging is that?
A: It’s the toughest thing to do in the game, especially when you’re playing sparingly. My approach at the plate was to be aggressive and often I’d be swinging on the first pitch if it was something I could handle.
Q: Did you know after your career that you’d get into coaching?
A: I had an inkling because my Dad coached. I was a student of the game. I really paid attention during a game and watched what managers did. I played with Doug Rader, and he was also my manager in 1982 in Hawaii. Doug was personable but tough on players, and he worked hard and he expected his players to do the same. I adopted that approach.
