Roman Talda

• Height 6' 0", Weight 205 lb.

• Born February 9 (or 19th?), 1970

Infielder Roman Talda was one of the top Czech national team players in their first European Championship (he had helped them qualify in the 1996 B-Level European Championship). He hit .476 with 10 RBI in the 1997 European Championship, tying José Arza, Jiri Visek and Pavel Budský for second in the event in RBI, two behind leader Raymond Hofer, as the Czech squad was .500 in their debut. During the '97 Extraliga, Talda blasted 13 home runs to break Visek's league record. Budský (a former minor leaguer) would tie Talda's mark two years later.

Talda hit .392/.483/.662 in 1999 for Technika Brno. He was among the Extraliga leaders in hits (29, 8th), tied for 2nd in homers (behind Budský), total bases (49, 7th), slugging (7th) and walks (12, 7th). Roman was 3 for 16 with 3 walks in the 1999 European Championship but still tied Budský for second on the Czech team with 5 RBI, one behind Visek.

Roman didn't play in the 2000 Extraliga but still ranked among the career leaders in hits (169, 9th), homers (35, 3rd), slugging (.717, 7th) and RBI (126, 9th) for the 1995-2000 era. Visek shattered his home run record by knocking out 20 that year.

Talda was back in 2001 to bat .523/.575/1.037 for Technika Brno with 56 hits, 15 home runs, 47 RBI and 45 runs in 28 games, not having missed a beat. He was third in the loop in hits, first in average (.013 over Visek), tied for second in homers (even with Visek, one behind Budský), second in total bases (111, trailing Budský and tied with Visek), 3rd in slugging (behind his two rivals), 3rd in OBP (behind the same two), 3rd in RBI (again behind Budský and Visek) and tied for 4th in runs. He still got left off the Czech team for the 2001 European Championship.

Roman fell to .256/.386/.368 in 2002. He was 4th in the league with 22 walks and led with 112 assists. In '03, he was just 4 for 22 with five walks to end his career. He was inducted into the Czech Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021.