Tomáš Polanský

Tomáš Polanský

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 200 lb.

• Born June 16, 1981 in Brno Czechoslovakia

Biographical Information

Tomáš Polanský has played for the Czech national team for most of a decade. He has led the top Czech league in OBP and runs.

Polanský hit .243/.371/.272 and fielded just .886 for MZLU Brno in the 2003 Extraliga. His career took a turn for the better when he moved to Draci Brno in 2004; he hit .321/.397/.429 for the Extraliga dynasty that year. In 2005, he dazzled, producing at a .386/.533/.511 rate. He led the league in OBP, was 6th in average, 9th in slugging, 4th in walks (29) and tied for 7th in runs (31). He represented the Czech Republic in the 2005 Baseball World Cup, splitting second base with future US minor leaguer Jakub Hajtmar; Tomáš batted .278/.350/.389, one of the better Czech hitters.

Polanský was 6 for 24 with 3 doubles, 4 walks and 3 steals for Draci Brno in '06. In 2007, he batted .354/.441/.506; he was 7th in the circuit in average, 10th in OBP and sixth in slugging. He then hit .315/.432/.472 in 2008; that year, he was among the leaders in OBP (10th), hits (41, tied for 9th), triples (5, 1st), total bases (60, tied for 5th), runs (36, 1st), walks (25, tied for 1st), RBI (4th) and steals (10 in 12 tries, tied for 9th).

In the 2008 European Cup in Regensburg, he batted .364/.391/.500 for Draci Brno, third on the team in OPS. During the 2008 World University Championship, Polanský hit .235/.316/.235. He batted .385/.429/.769 in the 2008 European Championship Qualifiers with 6 RBI in four games to help the Czech entry win a spot in the 2010 European Championship.

Polanský was 0 for 9 with 4 walks in the 2009 European Cup's Matino phase; he tied Jeffrey Verbij for second in walks, one behind leader Francesco Imperiali. In the 2009 regular season, he hit .378/.465/.495 while fielding .872; he had 29 runs and 33 RBI in 31 games. He was 9th in the league in hits (42, between Hajtmar and Jakub Voják), 3rd in RBI (behind Martin Střítecký and Pavel Budský), tied for 8th in OBP, tied Michal Ondráček for 9th in runs, 10th in slugging and 6th in average (between Martin Drong and Střítecký). He was even better in the postseason at .474/.583/.737 to lead Draci Brno to another title. He led the postseason in slugging and OBP (.018 over Tomáš Biskorovajny) and was second in average. He was 1 for 8 with two walks in the 2009 Baseball World Cup and made an error in his lone chance in the field.

In the 2010 season, he hit .297/.416/.451 and improved his fielding to .943. He tied for 4th in the league with 18 walks and tied for 5th with 23 runs. He was only 0 for 6 with two runs in the postseason and made two errors in eight chances but Draci Brno won again. In the 2010 European Cup, he hit .227/.320/.318 and fielded .938. He was excellent in the 2010 European Championship, producing at a .400/.435/.750 clip. He led the Czechs in doubles (4), hits (8, tied with Hajtmar), RBI (8, double #2 Jan Drábek) and runs (4, tied with Hajtmar and Karel Hrušovský). His two-run homer off Eugen Heilmann was all the offense they got against Germany while he drove in 4 runs against the Ukraine.

Polanský hit .393/.481/.517 for Draci Brno in 2011 and fielded .867. He was 4th in the Extraliga with 26 walks, tied Daniel Mráz for 8th in OBP and was 10th in RBI (27 in 23 games). He batted .316/.484/.545 in the postseason and handled 17 chances error-free. He led all players with 8 postseason walks. Draci Brno failed to win the title for the first time since he had joined them. In the 2011 European Cup, he hit .235/.278/.294. In 2012, he batted .300/.450/.450 with 27 runs in 32 games, fielding .933. He tied Voják for second in walks, 3 behind Jan Jablonka. He was 2 for 16 with 7 walks in the postseason and again played error-free ball (14 chances). He had 6 runs in 7 games and Draci Brno was the champ. He went 2 for 10 with a double, walk, 3 runs and a RBI in the 2012 European Cup.

The Brno native's 2013 batting line was .316/.456/.500 while he fielded .847. He was 8th with 22 walks. He dazzled in the playoffs, hitting .389/.421/.722 with 7 runs and 8 RBI in 8 games, while fielding .952. He led the postseason in hits (14), home runs (3) and total bases (26, 8 more than #2 Tom Brice), tied Brice for second in RBI and tied Brice and Alex Derhak for first in runs. Draci Brno won it all again. In the 2013 European Cup, he was 2 for 17 with 5 walks and 3 runs. He tied for second in walks, one behind Leonardo Zileri.

In 2014, he hit .240/.368/.347, fielding .915. He did not make the league leaders in any offensive department for the first time in 8 years. He hit .200/.375/.280 and fielded .857 in the postseason; his 6 walks tied for second in the playoffs, 3 behind Přemek Chroust. Draci Brno won the pennant. He was 2 for 9 with 3 runs, 2 walks, 2 RBI and a homer in the 2014 European Cup. He went deep off Cuban veteran Ciro Silvino Licea for the lone Draci Brno homer of the Cup. Despite his unimpressive season, he made the Czech national team for the first time in four years. He was 0 for 8 with a walk and six whiffs in the 2014 European Championship, with five assists; he split 3B with Drábek, Martin Červenka, Petr Zýma and Chroust as the team had no set starter there.

The veteran batted .259/.420/.282 and fielded .943. He had 24 walks and 22 RBI in 29 games. He was 4th in the league in walks and tied for third with three triples. In the postseason, he hit .192/.267/.192 and made no errors in 13 tries as Draci Brno fell short of the title. He hit only .143/.294/.214 in the 2015 European Cup and had two assists. In March 2016, he was on the Czech team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. The 34-year-old was the oldest homegrown player on the team (import Mike Cervenak was older). He replaced Chroust at third in the 7th inning against Nicaragua in the semifinals, with the game tied at 4. With two on and two outs his first time up, he drew an intentional walk from Carlos González as they decided to pitch to Zýma instead. He came up again in the bottom of the 11th with a 7-4 deficit, the bases loaded and no outs. He drew a walk from Jonathan Loáisiga to make it 7-5 then was erased on a run-scoring force by Zýma but the next two batters struck out to end the upset bid.

Sources

• Czech baseball federation
• Defunct IBAF site
• CEB website
• World Baseball Classic