Ryan Paul Freel was born March 8, 1976 in Jacksonville, Florida. He attended Englewood High School in Jacksonville and Tallahassee Community College. He lives in Jacksonville. He is married to Christie and on January 1, 2004 the couple had their first child, a girl named Ava.

Freel has always been a daredevil and is well-known for the time he jumped off a third-story motel balcony into a swimming pool.

Freel was involved in a minor stir at the end of the 2004 season when he and D'Angelo Jimenez came to blows at a team gathering.

Freel created much more of a buzz on the evening of the 2005 opening day when he was arrested for DUI and other related charges. Freel originally plead not guilty to the charges but later changed his plea to guilty, probably as part of a plea agreement. When it was all said and done, all of the charges were dropped except for the DUI and Freel was required to pay a $200 fine and participate in the Reds' Employee Assistance Program.

In January 2006, he was arrested again, this time in Tampa for Disorderly Intoxicaton. The charges were eventually dropped, and the Cincinnati fanbase continues to be supportive and forgiving.

Ryan Freel is the Reds’ hyperkinetic utility man, playing anywhere and everywhere and routinely changing positions during the course of a single game. Freel became a staple for the injury-ridden Reds in 2004 by bouncing among second base, shortstop, third base, and the outfield. Freel is the emergency backup catcher and would certainly take the mound if the need presented itself.

Wherever he’s playing, Freel has a reckless disregard for his own safely and will fling himself into walls, stands, the ground, other players, or anything else that stands between him and the ball. He has broken the arm of one fan and the nose of another, and a near-collision with Barry Larkin resulted in aggravation of an existing injury for the veteran shortstop.

But mostly if anyone gets hurt, it’s going to be Freel. He’s had bruises, fractures, strains, tears, you-name-it, but he always seems to bounce back quickly. Freel is a frequent Web Gem Nominee because his defensive plays often appear to be, if not impossible, at least highly improbable.

Though you never know where you might see him defending, you can count on seeing Freel batting first in the line-up because he gets on base. Once he’s there, Freel is a base-stealing threat. With all the Cincinnati heavy hitters, it would be easy to get accustomed to watching the guys jog instead of run and forget to pay attention to the baserunners. If this describes you, you’ll find that watching Freel will expand your skills as a spectator.

Freel tends to be very streaky at the plate, especially when he doesn’t have frequent days off. He’s a hard man to take out of the line-up, though, because the team definitely misses his contribution when he’s not there.

Freel signed a two-year contract in December 2005 for $3 million plus incentives.

Ryan Freel is the Reds' hyperkinetic utility man, playing anywhere and everywhere and routinely changing positions during the course of a single game. Freel became a staple for the injury-ridden Reds in 2004 by bouncing among second base, shortstop, third base, and the outfield. Freel is the emergency backup catcher and would certainly take the mound if the need presented itself.

Wherever he's playing, Freel has a reckless disregard for his own safely and will fling himself into walls, stands, the ground, other players, or anything else that stands between him and the ball. He has broken the arm of one fan and the nose of another, and a near-collision with Barry Larkin resulted in aggravation of an existing injury for the veteran shortstop.

But mostly if anyone gets hurt, it's going to be Freel. He's had bruises, fractures, strains, tears, you-name-it, but he always seems to bounce back quickly. Freel is a frequent Web Gem Nominee because his defensive plays often appear to be, if not impossible, at least highly improbable.

Though you never know where you might see him defending, you can count on seeing Freel batting first in the line-up because he gets on base. Once he's there, Freel is a base-stealing threat. With all the Cincinnati heavy hitters, it would be easy to get accustomed to watching the guys jog instead of run and forget to pay attention to the baserunners. If this describes you, you'll find that watching Freel will expand your skills as a spectator.

Freel tends to be very streaky at the plate, especially when he doesn't have frequent days off. He's a hard man to take out of the line-up, though, because the team definitely misses his contribution when he's not there.

Freel signed a two-year contract in December 2005 for $3 million plus incentives.

The Human League profiles are intended to provide basic non-statistical information about Cincinnati Reds' players. The Web is full of stats, but the Human League tries to provide answers for those times when you see a player and think, “That guy's interesting; I wonder what he's all about.” The content of these profiles is based on hours of bleary-eyed, late-night Internet research and my own observations. This information is certainly not impartial, nor is it exhaustive. I welcome your additions, corrections, and dissentions. Seriously, feel free to put the smack down on me at any time.

Today we're talking about Ryan Freel.