Richard Santo Aurilia was born September 2, 1971 in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Xaverian High School in Brooklyn and in 1999, ten years after graduation, was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame. He attended St. John's University where he was an All-Big East selection in 1992. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in he 24th round in 1992 and made his major league debut on September 6, 1995.

In 2000, the Our Lady of Grace League of Brooklyn retired Aurilia's uniform number 22, and in 2002 he was the Giants' recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award.

Rich is married to Raquel, a prolific model, actress, musician, and proponent for just causes all around. Raquel's charitable efforts include:

• Raising almost $30,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation by finishing the 1999 New York and 2002 Honolulu marathons
• Raising $1,700 for victims of Hurricane Katrina by donating proceeds from in-game sales of her CD single The Need.
• A concert with Bronson Arroyo to raise money for the Reds Community Fund. Hear her discuss the concert on the Red Hot Mama podcast

The couple has two sons, Chaz Aiden (August 2001) and Gavin Shea (October 2003). Chaz is red-headed but has his daddy's eyes, while Gavin favors his mother. I was lucky enough to find these things out first-hand when I chatted up Raquel at a spring training game before the 2006 season.

Rich Aurilia is the Reds’ utility infielder, veteran prescence, and about the only guy on the team who can hit with runners in scoring position.

He came on with the Reds in 2005 when he displaced Felipe Lopez at shortstop and earned the hatred of many Felipe zealots. When he was injured a month into the season, Felipe got his chance to prove himself at short, did so, and was soon the Reds’ All-Star representative at the position. To this day you cannot convince most of the zealots that the month of fighting for his position might have helped Lopez, though most of them have stopped actually growling about Aurilia now.

Finding himself without a position and possibly not yet acclimated to the midwestern ballplayer-should-be-seen-and-not-heard culture, Aurilia complained a little to the media about his lack of playing time. This got the zealots even more riled up, though, if pressed, most of them will agree that there’s nothing really wrong with wanting to play.

The Reds declined Aurilia’s option after the 2005 season and he became a free-agent. There wasn’t broad interest in his services, though, which is mad. Not that I’m saying he should have commanded $6 million or anything, but the Cardinals passed him over to pay Junior Spivey $1.2 million. And he’s now in AAA Memphis.

So when the Reds came offering $1.3 million with an option for 2007, Aurilia signed back on. He has come into the 2006 season with the understanding that he’s going to have to move around to get playing time, and he’s done that very well. He’s gotten a lot of his playing time at first base, where he lends more agility than you usually get from your first baseman. One of the benefits of having a former shortstop play there, I reckon.

In the line-up, Aurilia often bats clean-up, which has more to do with splitting up the Griffey/Dunn left-handed duo of power than with Aurilia’s particular clean-up hitting suitability. Nevertheless, he always gives a solid at-bat, definitely has the potential to offer power, and actually comes through in the clutch. When the game’s on the line in the late innings with men on, Aurilia’s among the guys you want to see at the plate.

To read all about the statistical analysis of Aurilia’s game, check out JinAZ’s Better Know a Red feature.

Rich Aurilia is the Reds' utility infielder, veteran prescence, and about the only guy on the team who can hit with runners in scoring position.

He came on with the Reds in 2005 when he displaced Felipe Lopez at shortstop and earned the hatred of many Felipe zealots. When he was injured a month into the season, Felipe got his chance to prove himself at short, did so, and was soon the Reds' All-Star representative at the position. To this day you cannot convince most of the zealots that the month of fighting for his position might have helped Lopez, though most of them have stopped actually growling about Aurilia now.

Finding himself without a position and possibly not yet acclimated to the midwestern ballplayer-should-be-seen-and-not-heard culture, Aurilia complained a little to the media about his lack of playing time. This got the zealots even more riled up, though, if pressed, most of them will agree that there's nothing really wrong with wanting to play.

The Reds declined Aurilia's option after the 2005 season and he became a free-agent. There wasn't broad interest in his services, though, which is mad. Not that I'm saying he should have commanded $6 million or anything, but the Cardinals passed him over to pay Junior Spivey $1.2 million. And he's now in AAA Memphis.

So when the Reds came offering $1.3 million with an option for 2007, Aurilia signed back on. He has come into the 2006 season with the understanding that he's going to have to move around to get playing time, and he's done that very well. He's gotten a lot of his playing time at first base, where he lends more agility than you usually get from your first baseman. One of the benefits of having a former shortstop play there, I reckon.

In the line-up, Aurilia often bats clean-up, which has more to do with splitting up the Griffey/Dunn left-handed duo of power than with Aurilia's particular clean-up hitting suitability. Nevertheless, he always gives a solid at-bat, definitely has the potential to offer power, and actually comes through in the clutch. When the game's on the line in the late innings with men on, Aurilia's among the guys you want to see at the plate.

To read all about the statistical analysis of Aurilia's game, check out JinAZ's Better Know a Red feature.

The Reds were swept Sunday by the White Sox by a score of 8-1.

Aaron Harang worked six and two-thirds innings, allowing three runs (earned) on eight hits and two walks for the loss. Kent Mercker finished off the seventh and put in the only scoreless relief appearance in his one-third of an inning.

Esteban Yan worked the eighth and allowed two runs on two hits. Mike Burns worked the ninth and allowed three runs on four hits. A shoddy performance from the bullpen, but since the Reds only managed to score one, it really didn't much matter.

Jon Garland, starting pitcher for the White Sox, came out of the game with a 5.58 ERA after allowing one earned run in eight innings. The Reds mustered just four hits against said powerhouse.

The hits belong to Brandon Phillips, Ken Griffey, Jr., and two for Scott Hatteberg. The RBI belongs to Adam Dunn. The run scored belongs to Phillips. Jason LaRue walked once. Quinton McCracken grounded out in his pinch hitting appearance.

All-in-all, a disheartening end to a disappointing homestand. The loss brings the Reds' record to 37-31 and their losing streak to three. They travel to New York to take on the Mets Monday with Bronson Arroyo facing off against Orlando Hernandez.

The Reds bullpen failed to hold on to a game that starter Eric Milton left in pretty good shape in the 8-6 loss to the White Sox on Saturday.

Milton continued his respectable performances by going six innings and allowing three runs (earned) on seven hits and two walks. Hardly lights-out, I know, but it would have been good enough if the bullpen could have combined to allow just one.

David Weathers did allow just one (earned) on two hits through the seventh. Chris Hammond did the same through the eighth. Todd Coffey allowed three runs (two earned) on two hits and two walks in the ninth.

The Reds managed to score many of their runs without the benefit of the long ball on Saturday. The only home run was a solo shot by Felipe Lopez to lead off the fourth. Two batters later, Rich Aurilia doubled and two batters after that, Scott Hatteberg singled him in and advanced to second on the throw home. Austin Kearns singled home Hatteberg to score the Reds' third run of the inning.

They tacked on two more in the sixth when Brandon Phillips singled and Hatteberg walked. Kearns singled them both in. Kearns stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch, but was stranded along with David Ross when Quinton McCracken watched strike three go by.

It looked promising in the ninth when, with one out, David Ross doubled and Javier Valentín singled. Ryan Freel drew a walk to load up the bases. Lopez grounded out but plated Ross and set up Ken Griffey Jr. for the walk-off home run. Since he's actually managed to do this before, he was swinging for the fences and swung his way right out of the game to strand two and leave the Reds three short.

The loss brought the Reds' record to 37-31. They would try to salvage something, anything from the series with the White Sox on Sunday when Aaron Harang went against Jon Garland.