Tim Laker #19

Full name TIMOTHY JOHN LAKER...Married, wife's name is Ginger... The couple has one son, Brando (5/13/91)...Resides in Simi Valley, CA...Is a 1987 graduate of Simi Valley High School where he played baseball and was a high school teammate of Scott Radinsky...Also attended Oxnard (CA) Community College the following year before being selected in 6th round by Montreal in the 1988 Amateur Draft...Was signed by former LA Dodgers GM Kevin Malone after the '88 draft.

2005

Spent the entire season at AAA Durham save 1 at bat with Tampa Bay on April 9 when Charles Johnson was unable to play for the D-Rays...Was designated for assignment on April 12 and outrighted to Durham on April 15 after his promotion one week earlier (4/8)...Spent the remainder of the season in Durham...Appeared in 65 games at catcher and 24 games at DH for the Bulls and hit .333 (13-39) in 10 April games...Hit a grand slam on Sept. 4 at Charlotte and also drove in 4 runs on August 16 at Indy...Appeared in 1 game at pitcher on August 30 at Norfolk (0.1IP, 1H, 1R/ER, BB, WP)...Hit .375 (3-8) with the bases loaded w/14RBI...Hit .274 (20-73) with RISP and .268 (37-138) with runners on base.

2004

Spent his second straight season as the Tribe's back-up catcher...Made 31GS at catcher for Eric Wedge and appeared in 41 games at the catching position...Compiled a fielding % of .984 (258TC, 4E) over his appearances at catcher and tossed out 7 of 28 runners (25%)...Hit a 3-run HR in first start of the year on 4/6 vs. Minnesota off Carlos Pulido...Last hit came on 8/21 as he appeared in only 3 games and received 1 at bat in Sept/Oct after the addition of Josh Bard...Tossed 1.0 shutout inning (1.0IP, 1H, 0R,1BB) on 4/20 vs. KC in a 15-5 Royals win...Was his 2nd career appearance at pitcher and now owns 2.0 shutout innings in the big leagues...Was the 20th non-pitcher in club history... Hit in a new career-high 7 straight games from 6/26-7/24 (.429, 9-21)...Hit a 3-run HR on 8/ 4 at Toronto...Was 0 for 16 from 8/5-12...Slugging % off LHP was .412 compared to .227 against RHP...Indians pitchers compiled an ERA of 4.31 (298.2IP, 306H, 143ER) with Tim behind home plate... Was outrighted off the roster on 10/14 and elected free agency.

2003

Tribe back-up catcher spent just his second full season at the big league level and his first since 1995 splitting 2002 season between the DL and AAA Buffalo...Made 42 starts and appeared in 50 games at catcher for Cleveland in 2003 and also made 1 start at the DH spot on 9/9 at Kansas City...Tossed out 8 of the 31 baserunners (25.8%) that attempted to steal off him and made 5 errors in 289 total chances at catcher (.983 fielding %) behind Bard and Martinez...Tribe pitchers recording an ERA of 4.01 (401.2IP, 404H, 179ER) while he was behind the plate... Brian Anderson recorded an ERA of 3.21 (89.2IP, 32ER) while Tim was behind the plate.

2002

Season was set back due to an off-season hospital stay after developing an infection in his pancreas and liver in December... Was hospitalized before Christmas and spent a month in UCLA Medical Center after surgery was performed on the liver to remove the infected portion of the organ...Did not report to spring training in mid- February and was taken off the 40-man roster on 3/5 and re-signed to a minor league contract...Lost over 50 pounds during his illness...Reported to extended spring in late April in Winter Haven, FL and began rehabbing back into baseball shape...Began a rehab stint at A Columbus on 5/23 and DH'd and caught every other game for 11 games before being activated off the DL at AAA Buffalo on 6/3...Appeared in 31 games at catcher for Buffalo, 20 games at first base and 11 games at DH.

2001

Spent most of the year in AAA Buffalo and was a solid reserve in two stints in Cleveland...Began the year in Buffalo and spent the first two and a half months with the Bisons before being promoted to Cleveland on 6/19 when Eddie Taubensee went on the DL with a viral infection...Was with the Tribe from 6/19-7/27, appearing in 7 games (4-20, .200, 1 RBI)...Made his Indians debut on 6/24 @KC and caught John Rocker's first outing as an Indian...Was designated for assignment on 7/27 when Taubensee was activated and outrighted to Buffalo on 8/1, where he spent the next month with the Bisons...Was purchased for a 2nd and final time on 9/1 and spent the five weeks with Cleveland...On the year with the Tribe he appeared in 14 games at catcher, making 8 starts (Tribe was 3-5 in his starts)...He tossed out 2 of his 17 (11.8%) of his baserunners...Pitched a scoreless 8th inning on Sept. 2 @CWS (1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO), the first non-pitcher for the Indians since 7/31/98 @OAK (Mark Whiten)...Game was 19-10 in favor of the White Sox when he shut them down (only Indians pitcher not to allow a run)...Was on the Tribe's 25-man division series roster vs. Seattle, but did not appear in a game...His 20 HR at Buffalo ranked 2nd on the club.

2000

Spent the entire season at AAA Nashville in the Pittsburgh Pirates Organization...Appeared in 121 of the 140 games for the Sounds, which finished tied for the team lead...His 28 doubles led the club and his 75 RBI finished 2nd on the squad...Appeared in 67 games at catcher, 31 games at first base and 4 games at third base...Hit a combined .304 (41-135) over the first two month of the season with 10 HR & 35 RBI in 39 games.

1999

Went to spring training with the Dodgers as a non-roster invitee...Was acquired by Pittsburgh on 3/26 in a deal for a player to be named later and was assigned to Nashville (AAA)...Made 95 appearances behind the plate for the Sounds, 15 at first base, two at third base and four as the designated hitter...Went 0 for 4 in his first game but then hit safely in a season-high 11 straight contests between 4/9-23 (18-43, .419)...Hit .358 in 18 games during the month of April, but just .207 in 23 games the following month...Homered twice on 9/4 @Memphis and hit a solo shot the following night...Had contract purchased by Pittsburgh on 9/6...Made first appearance as a pinch hitter on 9/13 at Arizona...Singled as a pinch hitter in his next appearance on 9/24 at Chicago (NL)...Made lone start (catcher) on 9/29 at Milwaukee (game two)...Made two appearances behind the plate and went 2-for-5 as a pinch hitter...Swiped last major league base on 6/13/93 at St. Louis.

1998

Attended Tampa Bay's spring training camp as a non-roster invitee...Assigned to minor league camp on 3/25 and began season with Durham (AAA)...Went 2-4 with two solo homers in his first game on 4/9 at Norfolk...Hit .289 (13-45) with four homers, 10 RBI and 15 runs scored in his first 12 games, but just .213 (19- 89) in final 28 contests...Contract was purchased by Tampa Bay on 5/26...Made one start behind the plate on 5/31 vs. Seattle...Designated for assignment on 6/20 and was outrighted to Durham on 6/25...Elected free agency on 6/26...Signed minor league contract with Pittsburgh on 7/9...Started behind the plate on 7/11 vs. New Orleans in his first action with Nashville and went 3 for 4 with two doubles and a grand slam...Went 5 for 5 with four doubles and three RBI on 8/30 vs. New Orleans...Made 30 appearances behind the plate and 14 at first base with Nashville...Contract was purchased by Pittsburgh on 9/4...Made first of four starts at first base on 9/12 at Philadelphia - his first-ever, big-league appearance there...Homered as a pinch hitter on 9/14 at St. Louis - his fourth career home run and first in the majors since 8/13/95...Hit safely in all four of his starts (5- 15, .333) and went 4-for-9 as a pinch hitter.

1997

Began spring training with Montreal...Claimed off waivers by Baltimore on 3/25 and was outrighted to Rochester (AAA) on 3/31...Began season with Rochester and hit .314 (22-70) with seven homers and 13 RBI in his first 20 games...Compiled 10-game hitting streak between 5/3-12 (13-37, .351)...Contract purchased by Baltimore on 6/16...Drove in only run of the season in his first appearance on 6/24 at Milwaukee...Designated for assignment on 7/18 and outrighted to Rochester...Appeared in seven games (four starts) with Baltimore...Elected free agency on 10/17.

1996

Missed entire season due to elbow injury...After successful Tommy John operation on 11/21/95 on his right elbow, had arthroscopic debridement and loosening of adhesions performed on the elbow on 4/2...Underwent closed manipulation of the elbow to further loosen scar tissue and received an injection for arthrofibrosis on 5/21...Remaining scar tissue removed on 6/13...Played in the Florida Instructional League and worked out in the off-season at West Palm Beach.

1995

Spent first full season with Montreal and platooned with Darrin Fletcher...Hit .159 (7-44) in his first 21 contests...Hit first major league homer off Norm Charlton on 5/11 at Philadelphia...Tied career high with three RBI on 5/26 vs. Los Angeles...Hit .348 (16-46) with two homers and six RBI in 16 games between 7/16 and 8/13, raising average from .171 to .241...Set career high with three hits on 8/9 at Houston...Connected for a game-winning homer off Ricky Bottalico on 8/13 at Philadelphia...Had successful ligament transplant surgery (the Tommy John procedure) performed by Dr. Frank Jobe on 11/21 in Los Angeles.

1994

Spent entire season at Ottawa (AAA)...Set minor league career highs in average, runs, hits, doubles, RBI and walks...Ranked fifth in the International League in hitting at .309...Named to the International League All- Star squad...Was the starting catcher for the N.L. team in the Triple-A All-Star Game in Nashville on 7/13...Earned Player-of-the-Week honors for week of 7/31 to 8/6 (8-19, .421)...Hit two homers on 8/17 vs. Charlotte.

1993

Was Montreal's opening day catcher and went 2 for 3 with his first major league triple off Cincinnati's Jose Rijo...Optioned to Ottawa on 4/15 after starting the campaign 3-for-17...Recalled from Ottawa on 5/24...Hit .174 (8-for-46) with three RBI in June...Established career high with three RBI off Steve Cooke on 7/1 vs. Pittsburgh. ...Optioned to Ottawa again on 7/11...Recalled from Ottawa for the final time on 8/6 and optioned back on 8/16...Made 43 appearances (26 starts) with Montreal...Played for Ponce in the Puerto Rican Winter League.

1992

Began season at Harrisburg (AA)...Went 3-for-5 with two homers and six RBI on 6/15 at London...Garnered Expos' organization July Player-of-the-Month honors, hitting .328 with three home runs and 23 RBI...Recalled from Harrisburg on 8/18 and made major league debut as a defensive replacement that night vs. Atlanta...Made first start on 8/19 vs. Atlanta and singled to right field on the first pitch he saw from starter Tom Glavine...Went 2 for 4 on 9/7 vs. St. Louis, but collected three passed balls...Pinch ran for Gary Carter on 9/27 vs. Chicago (NL) after Carter doubled in his last appearance in Montreal...Appeared in 28 games (11 starts) behind the plate with the Expos...Tied for seventh in the Eastern League in home runs with 15...Deemed the fifth-best prospect in the circuit by Baseball America.

1991

Began season with West Palm Beach (A)...Promoted to Harrisburg on 6/17 and returned to West Palm Beach on 7/9...Connected for a grand slam off Ramon Taveras on 8/12 vs. Vero Beach...Batted .236 (87-368) with six homers and 38 RBI in 111 games with West Palm Beach and Harrisburg...Made 107 appearances at catcher.

1990

Spent majority of season with Rockford (A)...Led the squad in RBI and tied for the lead in home runs...Played in the Midwest League All-Star Game...Finished campaign at West Palm Beach...Hit .220 (94-428) and appeared in 119 games at catcher and once in the outfield with the two teams.

1989

Split season between Rockford (A) and Jamestown (A)...Hit .223 (59-264) with two home runs and 28 RBI with the two clubs...Appeared in 69 games at catcher.

1988

Spent first professional campaign at Jamestown (A)...Made 33 appearances at catcher and one in the outfield.