John Pregenzer

John Arthur Pregenzer
(Jack)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 220 lb.
• School Illinois Wesleyan University
• High School Antioch Community High School
• Debut April 20, 1963
• Final Game September 7, 1964
• Born August 2, 1932 in Burlington, WI USA
• Died January 31, 2024 in Paris, MO USA

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Biographical Information

John "Jack" Pregenzer began his baseball career with the 1958 Salem Pirates and went 6-2 with a 2.88 ERA. In 1959, he went 9-10, 4.17 for the Idaho Falls Russets and 2-1 for the Grand Forks Chiefs. He was 8-9 with a 5.92 ERA for the Pocatello Giants in 1960 and got his first taste of A ball with the Savannah Pirates. By 1961, he was back in class C for a full year with the Fresno Giants and had a 10-7 record and 3.70 ERA.

In 1962, Jack went 14-9, 2.85 for the Springfield Giants and tied for fifth in the Eastern League in wins.

1963 and 1964 were his years in the majors playing for the San Francisco Giants and also in AAA for the Tacoma Giants. He was 4-2, 4.90 for Tacoma in 1963 and had 1 save and a 4.82 ERA for San Francisco, walking 8 in 9 1/3 innings. In 1964, his line at Tacoma was a fine 9-4, 2.01 while he was at 2-0, 4.91 in the majors. In 1965 he was put back down to AAA and played for Tacoma, finishing his career with a 4-5, 1.66 campaign.

Off-season during his years in California, he was a school teacher in Fresno, CA. As a rookie with the Giants, he had a fan club started by a San Francisco Chronicle writer, Novella O'Hara as a joke because she was amazed that he was traded from the Pocatello Chiefs, a minors club in Idaho, for a bargain fee of only $100. She asked the club manager at the time if she could also buy a player and offered $110 for Pregenzer. She recruited a lot of people, including some celebrities, into the club.

He taught junior high school history, coached junior high school basketball and high school baseball at Orting High School in 1969. He moved on to teach at Ford Junior High in Parkland, Washington, where he coached football and basketball. He coached High School baseball for Franklin Pierce High School and Washington High School. He retired to Puyallup, Washington outside the Tacoma area.