Bo Durkac

Gabriel Bo Durkac

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 205 lb.
• School Virginia Tech
• High School Armstrong Central High School

• Born December 12, 1972 in Kittanning, PA USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Bo Durkac was a two-time All-Metro Conference third baseman at Virginia Tech. He hit .423/?/.593 as a sophomore in 1993 and led the Conference in average by 23 points. As a junior, he made his first All-Conference team after batting .330/?/.586 with 24 doubles (tied for the conference lead). In his senior season, Bo again led in doubles (23) and put up a .338/?/.657 batting line, making his second All-Conference team.

He began his professional career with the Will County Claws of the North Central League and Adirondack Lumberjacks in the Northeast League in 1995, hitting .290/?/.414 for Adirondack and .375/?/.667 for Will County. In the short-lived North Central League, he may have led in home runs (6).

Durkac signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks in their first year of operation (not yet a MLB outfit) and played for the 1996 Visalia Oaks, a co-op club. He hit .298/~.402/.397 as the most-used Arizona player on the club, getting the most AB in the Arizona farm system in its first year. Bo led the California League with 16 sacrifice flies. In '97, he again spent the year with the top Diamondbacks farm team, now the High Desert Mavericks. He hit .282/~.361/.398 for High Desert

Bo played for the Chico Heat of the Western League from 1998 - 2000 and was an All-Star in 1999. As the regular third baseman in '98, he put up a .263 average and slugged .357. In his All-Star campaign, he hit .337/?/.474 and drove in 77 for the league's regular-season champs. In his last year with Chico, he batted .331 (8th in the WL) and slugged .440 while scoring 66 runs in the team's 90 games.

Durkac played for Team USA in the 1999 Intercontinental Cup, hitting .250/.308/.333 as a part-time DH.

In 2001, he played with the Taichung Agan in the Taiwan Major League (going 0 for 8), the Sonoma County Crushers of the Western League (.336/?/.404, 7th in the league in average), and the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League (.197/?/.212 in 66 AB). He again was a Western League All-Star selection that season. During his career, he contributed diaries to Baseball America's website.

Durkac was hitting coach for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte from 2003-2009. He then moved to Illinois State University in the same role from 2010-2014, then became head coach in 2015. He was 82-134 in four seasons there before being let go. He moved to University of South Florida as assistant coach in 2020.

He is the author of "2001: A Baseball Odyssey" and "How to Become a Professional Baseball Player."

Sources: 1994-2002 Baseball Almanacs, UNC website