Pavel Budský

Pavel Budský

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 6", Weight 217 lb.

• Born October 30, 1973 in Prague, Czechoslovakia

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Pavel Budský was the first minor league player who was born in and raised in Czechoslovakia. He has led the top Czech league in almost every category, including leading in both ERA and home runs in the same season.

In 1987, Budský and some friends developed an interest in baseball but had a hard time finding anyone who could help teach them the game; previously, Pavel had played softball. He was able to find a local trainer, Tomas Vavrusa. Budský developed as a slugger and impressed MLB scouts enough to win a contract from the Montréal Expos. He never made it into a minor league game in the Expos system though. He was on the Czech team in the 1996 B-Level European Championship, helping them qualify for their first European Championship.

Budský then caught on with the Kansas City Royals. The Royals decided to use the tall right-hander as a pitcher, though his fastball peaked in the high 80s. He was 2-1 with a 5.23 ERA for the 1997 GCL Royals, allowing 17 hits in 10 1/3 innings with just one walk. He struck out seven.

Pavel played for the Czech national team in the 1997 European Championship. He tied Glenn Romney and Alessandro Flisi for third in the round-robin phase of the event in runs (10) and tied for second in RBI (10). In the 1999 European Championship, he hit .421/.560/.579 with 7 runs and 5 RBI in five games in round one, while going 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA on the mound. He was 9th in average (between Evert-Jan 't Hoen and Valeri Platonov), 8th in OBP (between Elston Hansen and Alex Malihoudis), tied for 6th in RBI (with Andrea Castri, Andrea Evangelisti, Sylvain Hervieux, Roman Talda, Mike Crouwel and Hansen) and tied for 4th in runs (with Roberto De Franceschi, Daniel Newman, Antonio Salazar and 't Hoen). He then was 4 for 11 with a double in the second round and allowed no runs in 5 1/3 IP.

Budský played in Hoofdklasse in 2000, appearing for HCAW.

In the 2001 European Championship, the tall right-hander was 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA, striking out 15 in 11 1/3 IP. He hit .290/.353/.548 with 5 doubles, 8 runs and 8 RBI in 8 games, playing first base as well as pitching. He tied for second in the event in doubles and tied for third in strikeouts, two behind former minor leaguer Carlos Ros.

Budský hit .362/.412/.514 in the Czech Extraliga in 2003. He was 2-1 with a 0.47 ERA as a pitcher. He tied for 8th in the league in hits (38), was 8th in average, tied for 8th in home runs (2), was 6th in total bases (54), 8th in slugging and tied for 5th in RBI (25).

Budský had a save and a 2.45 ERA in the 2003 European Championship and was 2 for 10 at the plate.

In 2004, Pavel hit .380/.432/.670 for Draci Brno and was 2-0 with 4 saves and a 0.67 ERA. He was 4th in the Extraliga in hits (38), 7th in average, led in home runs (5), led in total bases (67), was second in slugging, led in RBI (32), led in saves, was third in ERA and was one of two regulars to field perfectly.

Budský batted .316/.471/.518 for Draci Brno in 2005. He was 2-1 with 2 saves and a 1.42 ERA. He tied for third in the Extraliga in home runs (3), tied for 5th in total bases (59), was 8th in slugging, tied for the lead in walks drawn (30), was 10th in OBP, 2nd in RBI (41), 10th in runs (30) and 4th in ERA.

He was 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA for the Czechs in the 2005 European Championship, beating France; he only had one at-bat. In the 2005 Baseball World Cup, the first Baseball World Cup the Czech team ever played in, the veteran allowed 17 hits in 9 1/3 innings on the mound, going 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA that was better than the team average of 10.24. He hit .250/.357/.333 for one of the better Czech OPSes; the team average was 461.

Pavel led Draci Brno to their 12th straight Extraliga title in 2006. He hit .368/.457/.632; on the mound, he was 0-1 with 8 saves and a 0.33 ERA. He was among the league leaders in hits (42, tied for third), average (5th), homers (6, leading the loop), total bases (72, 2nd), slugging (2nd), walks (21, 5th), OBP (5th), RBI (35, 10 more than anyone else), steals (8, tied for 9th), runs (38, leading the league), saves (leading the way) and ERA (number one there as well).

Budský struggled a bit in 2007. He failed to homer in the Extraliga but batted .327/.434/.465; on the mound, he fell to 1-1, 8.64. He tied for 6th in the circuit in hits (33), was 5th in total bases (47), was 10th in OBP, 5th in walks (17), 6th in RBI (18) and 10th in runs (19). In the 2007 European Cup, Pavel hit .421/.450/1.000 with 7 runs and 6 RBI in 5 games. He was among the leaders in home runs (3, first), runs (7, tied with Gino Lollio for the most) and total bases (19, second to Danny Rombley).

Budský was 2 for 18 in the 2007 European Championship with the lone Czech homer. He did not pitch in the tournament. In the 2008 European Cup, he hit .364/.391/.682 and tied for the lead with two home runs. He hit a game-winning bottom-of-the-9th homer to beat MGPU SYOS 42. He was their worst pitcher, going 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA and blowing a save opportunity in a loss to FC Barcelona, the eventual champs. In the qualifiers for the 2009 European Championship, Budský helped the Czechs advance by hitting .385/.467/.692, striking out all 3 batters he faced and getting a win. He was second in the qualifier in slugging. He did not win MVP honors as those went to teammate Petr Baroch.

Budský helped Draci Brno to yet another title in 2008, hitting .377/.453/.669. He led the Extraliga in slugging (by 86 points), was 4th in average, 7th in OBP, led in hits (49), led in home runs (7), led in total bases (87), was second in runs (32), led in RBI (44) and was second in steals (17, without being caught once). On the mound, he tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings, going 1-0 with two saves.

Budský was 1 for 13 and ground into two double plays in the 2009 European Cup.

Sources

• Czech baseball statistics
• 1998 Baseball Almanac
• 1996 article about Budsky
• 2007 Prague Post article
• 2008 European Cup in Regensburg
• 2008 European Championship qualifier in Prague
• 2009 European Cup in Matino
• Wayback Archive of the 2005 European Championship site