Jack Gerard Taschner (born April 21, 1978) is a former left-handed Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He played for the San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Los Angeles Dodgers. In his major league career (2005–2010), he won 10 games and struck out 160 batters in 189 innings. High School and College Taschner attended William Horlick High School in Racine, Wisconsin. Where he was selected in the 37th round by the then California Angels. After graduating, he chose not to sign and went on to the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, where he posted a 7–0 record in nine games (eight starts) and a 1.53 earned run average (ERA) during the 1999 season. He struck out 79 batters in his senior season while walking only 41. Taschner was drafted again, this time by the San Francisco Giants in the second round of the 1999 Major League Baseball draft. Professional career San Francisco Giants Taschner was drafted again, this time by the San Francisco Giants in the second round of the 1999 Major League Baseball draft. The Giants assigned him to their short season A-level minor league affiliate, the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Northwest League. Taschner earned a 3–2 record in the latter half of 1999, striking out 36 batters in 29 innings. He injured his shoulder in his last outing for Salem-Keizer. After surgery he sat out all but one month of the 2000 season for the San Jose Giants. He returned to San Jose in 2001, where he pitched months, making the California league all-star team. Unable to pitch in the game or the rest of the season, he had surgery again, this time on his left elbow. Between the two years, Taschner posted a 6–6 record in 24 games (16 starts), striking out 94 batters in two years while pitching a total of 88 innings. However, he hit another setback in 2002, as he missed the entire season recovering from Tommy John surgery. The road to recovery was not easy for Taschner, as his record with the Norwich Navigators in 2003 was 0–6; he posted an ERA of 5.68, the highest of his minor league career to date, striking out only 46 batters and allowing 48 earned runs. Taschner's 3–1 record with Norwich in 2004 was enough to earn him a promotion to the AAA Fresno Grizzlies, where he had a 4–7 record. Taschner remained at Fresno to begin