The 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m), 170 lb (77 kg) Pankovits was selected by the Astros in the fourth round of the 1976 Major League Baseball Draft from the University of South Carolina. During his six-year Major League career (1984–88; 1990), Pankovits was used primarily as a pinch hitter and occasional second baseman. In one instance, he even caught an inning of a 1986 game . In his career, he hit .250 with nine home runs and 55 RBI. His best season came in 1986 as a member of the National League West Division champion Astros, when he hit .283 in 70 games as the primary back up to Bill Doran.\n', '

Late in his playing career, Pankovits appeared in two games for the Boston Red Sox in September 1990 as defensive replacement—without logging a plate appearance—then began his managing career in the Red Sox\' farm system in 1992. He returned to the Astro organization in 1995, serving through 2010 as a minor league manager at the Class A, Short Season-A and Double-A levels, and as a roving infield instructor. He then joined the Mariners\' system in 2011 as manager of the Double-A Jackson, Tennessee, Generals of the Southern League. Coincidentally, he had managed a different franchise with the same name—the Jackson, Mississippi, Generals of the Double-A Texas League—in 1998–99 when it was an Astro affiliate.\n', '

After three seasons (2011–13) as Jackson\'s pilot, Pankovits assumed a position with the Mariners in 2014 as a roving minor league infield instructor. His career record as a minor-league manager is 938–1,010 (.482). As the 2018 manager of Mahoning Valley of the Short-season New York–Penn League, he is a member of the Cleveland Indians\' organization.\n', '

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