Paul Bako

Gabor Paul Bako II (born June 20, 1972) is an American former professional baseball catcher.

He is an example of a baseball "journeyman", having played for 11 different teams during his 12-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career.

During his playing days, he was listed at 6 ft and 210 lb.

Bako attended high school and college in his home state of Louisiana, winning two conference championships at the University of Southwest Louisiana.

In 1990, Bako was drafted out of Lafayette High School—who later retired his number 6 —with the ninth pick of the sixth round by the Cleveland Indians.

He chose not to sign, and attended the University of Southwest Louisiana.

Because of his last name, Bako gained temporary distinction as one of the Astros' "Killer B's", which included first baseman Jeff Bagwell and second baseman Craig Biggio, two formidable veteran players who helped established the Astros as perennial playoff contenders in the 1990s and 2000s.

In his college career, Bako caught for the Ragin' Cajuns during two consecutive conference championship seasons: 1991 in the American South Conference, when they finished with a 49–20 record, 14th-best among Division I squads; and 1992 in the Sun Belt Conference, when Southwestern Louisiana's pitching staff amassed a 3.50 earned run average, 29th-best in Division I. After the 1992 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

In 1993, he was named to the second team of the all-Sun Belt Conference baseball team, and was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the fifth round of the 1993 June draft.

Bako began his professional career with the Pioneer Baseball League's Billings Mustangs, a rookie-league farm team of the Reds located in Montana.

During the 1993 season, Bako amassed a .314 batting average, second-highest on the team that season behind Chris Sexton.

Bako walked 22 times, stole 5 bases, and batted in 30 runs, while excelling defensively compared to the other catcher on the team.

His fielding percentage was .988, and he posted only four errors that season.

He was also named a Pioneer League All-Star.

Bako moved on to the high-A Winston-Salem Spirits in the Carolina League for the 1994 and 1995 seasons.

He struggled during the 1994 season, batting only .204 with three home runs and 26 runs batted in (RBIs).

1995 was more successful, with an 81-point boost in batting average (.285), seven home runs and 11 doubles.

After the season, Baseball America rated him the top-ranked catching prospect in the Reds farm system.

Bako's 1995 performance earned him a promotion to the Southern League's Chattanooga Lookouts, the Reds AA-level affiliate, for 1996, where he was named a Southern League All-Star.

He was second on the team in strikeouts (93) and fifth among regulars with a .294 batting average.

He hit a career-high eight home runs during that season, adding 27 doubles and 48 RBIs in 360 at bats.

Brett Tomko, who played with Bako in the minors in 1996 as a member of the Lookouts and in 1997 with Indianapolis, recalled one of their mound conversations:

Bako: Are you really trying out here?

Tomko: What do you mean?

Bako: Because your stuff is horrible today and if you don't try a little harder, you're not going to make it out of this inning.

In 1997, playing for the Indianapolis Indians, Bako was a teammate of brothers Aaron and Bret Boone.

That year, he batted .243 and matched his previous year's career-high home run total.

He had 78 hits in 321 at-bats.

Bako's game management earned him a reputation, even in the minor leagues.

On November 11, 1997, Bako was traded by the Reds to the Detroit Tigers in an offseason deal that included Donne Wall.

After reaching MLB with the American League's Detroit Tigers in 1998, Bako spent seven seasons in the National League, playing with six different teams.

He returned to the American League with the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles, then played for the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies for one season each.

After playing 13 games with the Tigers AAA-level affiliate—the Toledo Mud Hens—in 1998, Bako was called up to the Major League club.

Bako made his major league debut with the Tigers on April 30, 1998, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

His first Major League hit, a bases loaded double, came the next day off Bill Swift, when he went 2-for-5 against the Seattle Mariners in a 17–3 Tigers win.

He hit his first major league home run on May 15 against the Oakland Athletics; it came off Mike Mohler in the bottom of the sixth inning with two runners (Damion Easley, Joe Randa) on base.

He also went 4-for-4 against the New York Yankees on July 21.

Bako's rookie season was arguably his most successful: he posted a .272 batting average, hit three home runs, batted in 30 runs, and collected 106 total bases.

After the season, the Tigers traded Bako to the Houston Astros in a seven-player deal that included Brad Ausmus.

In fact, journalist Dayn Perry jocosely noted the 1999 Astros, "in pursuit of arcane history, used eight players whose last names began with 'B.'" The eight included Bagwell, Bako, Glen Barker, Derek Bell, Sean Bergman, Lance Berkman, Biggio, and Tim Bogar.