David Winkler

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born March 27, 1980

Biographical Information

David Winkler has been a player, coach and manager in the Czech Republic.

Winkler debuted for Technika Brno in 1998, going 0 for 2. He hit .245/.302/.490 in 1999 and tied for 10th in the Extraliga with four home runs. In 2000, he improved to .367/.417/.647 with a career-high 16 doubles. He tied Pavel Chadim, Jiří Srbecký, Arnošt Nesňal and Petr Goleš for 6th in the loop in two-baggers, was 10th in total bases (90, between Ivo Kučera and Goleš) and tied Chadim, Jan Chuboda and Martin Veselý for 7th in extra-base hits (23). He hit .328/.378/.633 with a career-high 11 homers, 47 runs and 43 RBI in 2001. He was among the leaders in home runs (7th, between Martin Střítecký and Miroslav Víšek), RBI (tied Chadim for 7th), hits (58, 7th), total bases (7th, between Martin Čuta and Střítecký), extra-base hits (23, tied Střítecký for 8th), hit-by-pitch (6, tied for 6th) and triples (3, tied for 3rd). Though he was only 21 years old, he had reached his peak in power hitting, never again hitting more than three dingers.

He made his first appearance with the Czech national team in the 2001 European Championship. In his debut, he replaced Ondřej Petřík at catcher in a win over Ukraine and drew a walk from Serniy Kovalenko. It was his only plate appearance of the event. In 2002, he hit .363/.412/.582 for Technika Brno. He was 6th in the league in average (between Kučera and Veselý), 4th in slugging and 6th in OPS, his highest finish in the OPS leaders. The next year, he moved to Draci Brno and hit .281/.333/.390 but played on his first championship team. He tied Veselý for 6th in RBI (26), tied Tomáš Ovesný for 6th in doubles (11) and was 9th in extra-base hits (12). He was 0 for 5 for the Czechs in the 2003 European Championship, backing up Michal Břeň at catcher, and handling seven chances error-free.

Draci Brno repeated in 2004 though Winkler played a bit role (.206/.278/.270 in 21 G) and also wound up with MZLU Brno for a period (5 for 29, 2B). The next year, he again played for the same two teams, batting .328/.423/.459 in 16 games for MZLU and .341/.400/.557 with 23 runs in 24 games for the champion Draci Brno team. He tied for 5th in homers (2), was 8th in RBI (31), ranked 5th in hits (50, between Jakub Hajtmar and Střítecký), tied Jakub Malík for second in doubles (15), was 3rd in extra-base hits (18, behind Malík and Milan Vystrčil), was 5th in total bases (between Aleš Navrátil and Pavel Budský) and was 4th in times hit by pitch (9).

The Czechs made the 2005 Baseball World Cup, their first Baseball World Cup. He backed up Petr Čech at catcher and Michal Műller at third base. He hit .231/.333/.231 and fielded .929, allowing 7 steals in 7 tries. His first hit for the national team came against Spain - either Carlos Ros and Pedro Pablo Belmonte. He batted .315/.356/.528 for Draci Brno in 2006, driving in 30 runs in 28 games for the titlists. He tied for 3rd in the league in homers (3), was 4th in RBI (between Karel Hrušovský and Střítecký), ranked 8th in slugging (between Hajtmar and Martin Schneider), was 8th in OPS (between Martin Citovecký and Schneider), was 3rd in doubles (13, behind Budský and Tomáš Polanský), tied Střítecký and Veselý for second in extra-base hits (16, behind Budský) and tied Joe Truesdale and Břeň for 6th in total bases (57).

In the 2007 European Cup, he was 0 for 4. Draci Brno won again though his production dropped to .250/.367/.281. In '08, he won his sixth straight title with them and batted .269/.351/.434. He was 1 for 8 in the 2008 European Cup. Draci Brno won again in 2009 and he batted .286/.423/.286 in a part-time role. Returning to MZLU Brno for 2010, he rebounded to .381/.451/.500 with 34 RBI in 35 games while fielding .979. It was his last big year at the plate, finishing on leaderboards for the last time: tied for 7th in home runs (3), 3rd in RBI (trailing Schneider and Tomáš Sýkora), tied for 3rd in hits (48, behind Hajtmar and Wayne Ough), 8th in average (between Ough and Michal Ondráček), 8th in slugging (between Petr Síla and Přemek Chroust), was 10th in OPS (between Chroust and Hajtmar), tied for 6th in total bases (63) and tied for 9th in HBP (6). He was 0 for 8 with a walk in the 2010 European Cup. He was a coach for the Czech team in the 2010 Intercontinental Cup.

Winkler hit .323/.405/.394 with 24 RBI in 28 games in 2011. Returning to Draci Brno as a backup in 2012, he was 4 for 12 with three doubles and took his eighth Czech championship. He managed the Czech team to the 2012 World Junior Championship. His work with the Czech junior team and as a coach for Draci Brno won him the Czech Coach of the Year award. He coached for Draci Brno in 2013 but did not play for them, his first season he did not play.

He had his last season playing regularly in 2014, moving to Hroši Brno and hitting .248/.308/.294 and fielding .996 to lead regular catchers. He managed the Czech team in the 2015 U-18 Baseball World Cup and 2016 European Junior Championship. In 2018, he returned to the playing field for the first time in four years, going 1 for 2 for the Třebíč Nuclears. He also guided the Czechs in the 2018 European Junior Championship.

In 2019, he was back with Draci Brno, going 1 for 3 with a walk, hit-by-pitch and two runs. He was 2 for 28 with two walks for Olympia Blansko in 2020 to end his playing career apparently. In 19 seasons, he had batted .304/.371/.445 with 274 runs and 306 RBI in 430 games. Through 2022, he was 18th in league history in doubles (102), 14th in times plunked (58) and 20th in RBI (between Tomáš Juněc and Hrušovský). He just missed playing the same year as his son as Jakub Winkler debuted in 2021.

David managed the Czechs in the 2021 U18 European Championship. He coached for Draci Brno in 2022; they participated in the 2022 European Cup and won the Czech title.