Paul Bako #9

Gabor Paul Bako II (BAH-koh)...he and his wife, Laurie, have a daughter, Abbey, and a son, Will...is a 1990 graduate of Lafayette (LA) High School...his high school later honored him by retiring his prep uniform number (No. 6), as he was the first Lafayette High graduate to reach the Major Leagues...attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette (now known as Louisiana- Lafayette)...was originally selected by Cincinnati in the fifth round of the June 1993 First-Year Player Draft.

2008

Paul returned to the Reds organization after a 10-year absence, establishing career highs in appearances (99), home runs (six) and RBI (35). © Made the Reds Opening Day roster after arriving in camp as a non-roster invitee. © Garnered a .217 (65-for-299) batting average in 99 games. © Led Reds catchers in starts (88) and innings caught (770.2). © Caught five of the team's six shutouts. © Team was 42-46 in his starts ... Reds pitchers posted a 4.36 ERA when he was behind the dish. © Hit a game-ending infield-single off Chad Durbin in the club's 4-3 win vs. Philadelphia April 5 ... finished the contest with a season-high three hits and an RBI. © Posted a career-high nine-game hitting streak, April 5-17 ... hit at a .433 (13-for-30) clip with five walks, three doubles, a triple, three RBI and a .514 on-base percentage during the streak. © Produced the first two-homer game of his career on the same night Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th homer June 9 at Florida ...

2007

Appeared in 60 games in his first season with the Orioles, making 47 starts behind the plate...Caught 6 of 34 runners attempting to steal (17.6%)... The Orioles were 20-27 in games he started behind the plate...Started 13 of 21 games to open the season while Ramon Hernandez was on the DL, making his Oriole debut in the season opener on April 2 at Minnesota...Hit his only home run of the season on April 8 at New York, his first since August 21, 2004 with the Chicago Cubs...Had consecutive multi-hit games April 12-13 against Kansas City, two of his five multi-hit games on the season...Tripled on May 20 at Washington, his first three-base-hit since September 15, 2003 against the New York Mets as a member of the Cubs...Singled and walked a career-high 4 times in 5 plate appearances on July 29 against the Yankees.

2006

Making a comeback after missing most of 2005 with an injury, Bako started 44 games, but didn't have any more impact than the other catchers. He threw out eight of 28 on steal attempts, 29 percent. His batting average was .209 with no homers and 10 RBIs.

2005

Appeared in 13 games for the Dodgers before suffering a season-ending knee injury on May 26 while running to 3rd base...underwent surgery to reconstruct the ACL in his left knee on June 24...the procedure was performed by Dr. Ralph Gambardella...Made 12 starts for the Dodgers, registering a .250 average (10-for-40) with 4 RBI in those games.

2004

Appeared in 49 games for the Cubs, batting .203 with eight doubles, one homer and 10 RBI...hit his first homer since 2002 and notched his first stolen base since 2001...saw action in 47 games behind the plate (43 starts)...Cubs pitchers had a 3.53 ERA while he was catching (148 ER/377.2 IP)...had a .989 fielding percentage (four errors, 366 total chances)...threw out 15 of the 51 base runners attempting to steal off him...drove in two runs on Aug. 5 at Colorado and Sept. 10 vs. Florida...on Sept. 30, caught Mark Prior in a game in which the right-hander fanned 16 batters...hit his only homer of the season on Aug. 25 vs. Milwaukee, a solo shot off Doug Davis...singled in his first at-bat on May 25 at Houston and then stole second base off Roy Oswalt, his first theft since 2001.

2003

Paul appeared in 70 games in his first year with the Cubs and batted .229 with 17 RBI.

saw action in 69 games behind the plate (57 starts) ...Cubs pitchers had a 3.81 ERA while he was catching (215 ER/507.2 IP).

had a .987 fielding percentage (6 E/479 TC).

threw out 11 of the 36 baserunners who attempted to steal off him - and picked 2 runners off base.

in the 6th inning of the Cubs' 1-0 victory at Florida July 19, he threw out both Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo attempting to steal second.

from August 2 through the end of the season (28 games), he batted .273 (21-77).

had one of the best games of his major league career April 5 at Cincinnati, going 4-for-5 with a career-high 6 RBI ...the 4 hits equaled his career high (third time) ...batted 3 times with the bases loaded, recording a triple and a pair of singles.

had 3 triples - the most for a Cubs catcher since Benito Santiago had 3 in 1999 ...the last Cubs backstop with 4 triples was Tim Blackwell in 1980.

2002

Paul joined the Brewers in a spring training deal with Atlanta ... in his lone season in Milwaukee, he saw his most extensive major league playing time since his rookie campaign -- appearing in 87 games and batting .235 with 4 homers and 20 RBI.

appeared in 76 games at catcher (65 starts) and had a .991 fielding percentage (4 E/457 TC) in his team-high 587.2 innings behind the plate ... threw out 14 of the 59 baserunners who attempted to steal off him.

had 12 multi-hit efforts and equaled his career high with an 8-game hitting streak May 2-May 15 (10-24, .417).

recorded a season-best 3-hit game June 29 at Minnesota, going 3-for-5 with a homer and 3 RBI.

had the second 3-run contest of his big league career August 30 at Cincinnati.

2001

Paul spent most of the year as Atlanta's backup catcher, primarily catching Greg Maddux -- who went 17-11 with a 3.05 ERA.

Braves hurlers had a 3.40 ERA when he was catching (150 ER/397.1 IP).

threw out 33.3-percent of the baserunners who attempted to steal off him (18-54).

at the plate, he batted .212 in 61 games with 2 homers and 15 RBI.

had a career-high 4-RBI game July 25 vs. Cincinnati, going 2-for-4 with a double and a triple.

appeared in 3 National League Division Series games against Houston and in 3 N.L. Championship Series contests against Arizona.

in Game 3 of the Division Series (a 6-2 Braves win), he went 2-for-2 with a 2-run homer off Shane Reynolds ... later added a third RBI by successfully laying down a suicide squeeze bunt.

2000

Played in 81 total contests for Houston, Florida and Atlanta.

opened a season in the majors for the first time, breaking camp with the Astros ... appeared in just 1 game, though, before being traded to Florida April 11 -- where he batted .242 in 56 games.

the defensive specialist was awarded to Atlanta on a waiver claim July 21 ... batted .190 in 24 games.

Braves pitchers recorded a 3.68 ERA while he was behind the plate (64 ER/156.1 IP).

caught 14 of Greg Maddux's starts ... the right-hander had a 2.63 ERA in those contests.

played first base for the first time during his big league career August 22 at Colorado.

participated in postseason play for the first time, going 0-for-1 in 2 Division Series contests against St. Louis.

1999

Spent most of the season with Houston after being obtained in an off-season trade ... hit .256 in 73 games.

began the campaign with the Astros' New Orleans (AAA) affiliate ... was recalled April 27.

Astros pitchers had a 3.95 ERA when he was the catcher (242 ER/551.0 IP) ... threw out 18 of the 53 runners who tried to steal off him (34.0 percent).

had his second big league 4-hit game July 29 at Colorado.

was a member of Houston's Division Series roster, but did not see any postseason action.

1998

Saw his first big league action with Detroit after opening the year at Toledo (AAA) ... in his first 96 M.L. games, he batted .272 with 3 homers and 30 RBI.

was recalled from Triple-A April 29 ... made his debut the next day with a starting assignment vs. Texas, going 0-for-4.

in his second game May 1 at Seattle, he went 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored, a double and 3 RBI ... his first M.L. hit was a 2-run double off Bill Swift.

hit his first homer May 15, a 3-run shot off Oakland southpaw Mike Mohler.

recorded his first 4-hit game July 21 at Yankee Stadium, going 4-for-4.

1997

Spent his final year in Cincinnati's organization at Indianapolis (AAA).

had a .991 fielding percentage in 99 appearances behind the plate while throwing out 42.0-percent of the runners who attempted to steal off him.

1996

Earned Southern League all-star honors at Chattanooga (AA) after leading league catchers in putouts (694), assists (84) and total chances (791).

his .294 average was the 9th-highest mark in the league ... added 8 homers and 48 RBI.

1995

Was rated by Baseball America as the best catching prospect in Cincinnati's farm system after a season in which he had a .989 fielding percentage at Winston-Salem (A).

batted .285 in 82 games with 7 homers and 27 RBI.

1994

Spent the campaign at Winston-Salem (A), batting .204 in 90 games.

1993

Began his professional career with Cincinnati's Billings (Rookie) club, earning Pioneer League all-star honors ... batted .314 -- the 7th-highest mark in the league -- with 4 homers and 30 RBI.