John Gary Glover (born December 3, 1976) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He had a career major league ERA of 5.03 over eight seasons, including time spent with the Anaheim Angels, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays and Toronto Blue Jays, who selected Glover in the 15th round of the 1994 Major League Baseball draft. He also played for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball and the Sydney Storm of the Australian Baseball League.
Career
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays drafted Glover right out of high school in DeLand, Florida, selecting him the 15th round of the 1994 draft. Glover spent the next three seasons (–) playing for rookie-level minor affiliates; the Gulf Coast Blue Jays from 1994 to 1995 and the Medicine Hat Blue Jays in 1996. In those years Glover worked as a starter but had a spotty record. At Medicine Hat he posted a 3–12 record with a 7.75 ERA. Promoted the next year to the Single-A Hagerstown Suns Glover reduced his ERA to 3.73 but won only six games in twenty-eight starts. In Toronto promoted Glover to the High-A Dunedin Blue Jays where his record finally improved. In eighteen starts he was 7–6 with an ERA of 4.28.
Toward the end of the 1998 season Toronto had promoted Glover to the Double-A Knoxville Smokies but he immediately struggled, losing five games without registering a single win and seeing his ERA skyrocket to 6.75. In however Glover pitched to an 8–2 record with Knoxville and made the Southern League All-Star team before being promoted mid-season to the Triple-A Syracuse SkyChiefs. At Syracuse Glover went 4–6 with a 5.19 ERA; he also developed a notable pitching rivalry against Ottawa Lynx pitcher Shayne Bennett, against whom he pitched three times (Glover won twice). Called up at the end of the season Glover made his major league debut with the Blue Jays on September 30, 1999, throwing one inning of no-hit shutout ball amid a 9–2 loss to the Cleveland Indians.
Glover did not join the Blue Jays for the season, spending the year at Knoxville where he put together a strong winning streak but overall went 9–9 with a 5.02 ERA. On November 7, 2000 Toronto traded Glover to the Chicago White Sox for left-handed relief pitcher Scott Eyre.
Chicago White Sox
Over the 2000–2001 winter Glover played in the Venezuelan Winter League, where he and former SkyChiefs teammate John Bale were robbed by a man with a shotgun. Unfazed, Glover finished out the season in Venezuela, commenting that the experience made him realize that "this game is only going to be kind to you for so many years, so you've got to try to make the best of the game when you're in it." Glover opened the and got off to a strong start; retiring the first sixteen hitters he faced and picking up his first major league victory on April 11 in relief of Jim Parque against Cleveland. After a rocky May Chicago demoted Glover to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, but he returned to the team in mid-June after posting a 1.88 ERA in six starts. On July 27 Glover made his first career major league start in place of the just-traded James Baldwin; like his debut and first win, it came against the Cleveland Indians. Glover allowed two hits in 3 innings but did not figure in the decision. Glover finished out the year at Chicago with a 5–5 record and a 4.93 ERA in 46 appearances, including 11 starts.
Between the 2001 and seasons there was speculation that Glover would be part of the starting rotation, but Opening Day found him in the bullpen. Out of the bullpen he had an ERA of 1.15 by the third week of June, but his ERA as a starter was well over 6. Glover eventually made 22 starts in 2002, but Chicago manager Jerry Manuel moved him back to the bullpen in mid-September and indicated that Glover would pitch in relief in as well. Glover accepted the decision but indicated a desire to return to the rotation. On the year Glover was 7–8 with a 5.20 ERA.
Glover opened the 2003 season with the White Sox but was little used, making just 24 appearances by the end of the July. During one stretch Glover went 19 days between appearances. On July 30 the Sox traded Glover along with minor-leaguers Scott Dunn and Tim Bittner to the Anaheim Angels for veteran pitcher Scott Schoeneweis.
Anaheim Angels
Glover worked in relief for the Angels and made 18 appearances, going 1–0 with 5.00 ERA and nearly equaling his playing time with Chicago that year. At the end of the season the Angels sent him outright to the Salt Lake Stingers. In December Glover was granted his release and signed a minor-league contract with the Chicago Cubs.