St. John’s Standout and MLB Veteran Rich Aurilia to Headline Annual Bullpen Winter Banquet

The Brooklyn, NY, native will headline the University’s annual Bullpen Winter Banquet on Thursday, January 30, at Giando on the Water in Brooklyn, and fondly recalled his days at St. John’s. The emcee for the evening will be Mr. Aurilia’s fellow MLB alumnus, Christopher John "C.J." Nitkowski.

As a young New York Mets fan, Mr. Aurilia recalled growing up in a very “kid-friendly” area of Brooklyn. “I played with kids three or four years older, which helped me in terms of development. I always had that drive to be the best, and playing against them I was never the best, so I think that drove me.”

Mr. Aurilia attended Xaverian High School in Brooklyn and is a member of their Hall of Fame. He fielded several offers from colleges throughout the US, but chose to stay local and attend St. John’s. “I wanted a place where I’d be comfortable and knew I’d play right away,” he recalled.

He earned BIG EAST Conference Freshman of the Year honors in 1990, and helped St. John’s to a pair of BIG EAST Regular Season Championships in 1991 and 1992. “I had a great three years there,” Mr. Aurilia said, adding that many of his teammates are friends to this day, whom he is looking forward to reuniting with at the Banquet.

During Mr. Aurilia’s sophomore year, the Red Storm won a bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Baseball Tournament. “Going to the Regionals was pretty cool; playing against teams like Florida State, Georgia Tech, and the University of Alabama was a highlight.”

In 1992, the Texas Rangers drafted Mr. Aurilia in the 24th round. “I had two good years my first two seasons at St. John’s, but in my third year we lost a big chunk of our lineup and I put too much pressure on myself to be better.”

At the time, Mr. Aurilia considered remaining at St. John’s and finishing his degree, but he decided to take a chance on himself. “I decided to sign. I feel like I made the right decision when I was drafted. Fortunately, it worked out.”

Mr. Aurilia succinctly described his minor league experience as hardly glamorous. “You’re a low draft pick. You didn’t get a big signing bonus. You’re going to small towns and you’re making a minimal amount of money. There was nothing luxurious about it.”

Working hard to hone his craft, Mr. Aurilia enjoyed two solid seasons in the minors but fell off during his third season. “I got off to a terrible start in Double-A. I learned much about myself that year, learned not to try as hard, and had an excellent second half.”

Mr. Aurilia’s path to the majors was aided in no small measure by the infamous 1994 players’ strike. Teams sent all their scouts to the minors to stay busy and watch their prospects. Mr. Aurilia enjoyed a torrid five-game stretch that brought him to the attention of his future Giants manager Dusty Baker. Shortly before Christmas, he was traded to the Giants.

Mr. Aurilia was called up to the majors in 1995 and spent his first full season with the team in 1996. With the Giants, he found himself rubbing shoulders with Hall of Famers like Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Orlando Cepeda, who would share their wisdom and the benefit of their experience with the young rookie.

“To meet those icons, spend time with them, talk to them about the game—and not only their history but how to pave my way—was priceless,” Mr. Aurilia enthusiastically recalled.

An example of this came one day early in his career when a clubhouse attendant told Mr. Aurilia that “Willie” wanted to talk to him in the video assist room. “I was like ‘Willie who?’”

Willie Mays had noticed something about his swing and wanted to impart some advice. “We sat there talking about hitting for maybe a half hour, 45 minutes. That has to be one of the unsung highlights of my career—just sitting and talking to that legend about hitting.”

With the Giants, Mr. Aurilia quickly established himself as a “team first” player, who did whatever was asked of him to help the team win. He often hit in front of or behind stars like Barry Bonds or Jeff Kent.

“You’re asked to be part of the puzzle, not the main piece,” he stressed. “In that sense, it took pressure off many of us, but I only ever cared about winning—being a winning player and playing the game the right way.”

During Mr. Aurilia’s tenure, the Giants steadily became a force to be reckoned in the National League’s Western Division, in playoff contention nearly every season of his early career. In 2001, he enjoyed a breakout season that saw him achieve a .324 batting average, with 206 hits, 97 runs batted in (RBIs), and 37 home runs.

That season, Mr. Aurilia enjoyed his first and only selection to the All-Star team. He had to pinch himself being among so many iconic players, including his hero, Cal Ripken Jr., making a final appearance in the mid-season classic that included a home run. “You kind of want to shake his hand as he’s going around the bases, but you can’t,” he laughed.

Asked how he fared against fellow standout Johnnie John Franco, Mr. Aurilia wordlessly pointed to statistics on Baseball Reference that saw him go 5–11 for an impressive .455 average.

Mr. Aurilia was an indispensable cog in the Giants team that went to the 2002 World Series and ultimately fell to the Anaheim Angels in seven games. After the 2003 season, he signed with the Seattle Mariners.

After brief stints with the San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds, he re-signed with the Giants in 2007, eventually retiring in 2009. He was enshrined in their Wall of Fame in 2010. In 2014, he was inducted into the St. John’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

Today, Mr. Aurilia divides his time between philanthropic work in the San Francisco Bay Area, serving as a sports analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area, and managing Red Stitch Wine, which he founded with former teammate (and current Los Angeles Dodgers manager) Dave Roberts.

“We share a love of wine, and thought we should do something in the industry, so we decided to make our own. What started as a hobby is now a business,” he offered.

Today, Mr. Aurilia looks back on his time at St. John’s and in the majors with a sense of pride and accomplishment. “I just want to be remembered as a guy who played the game the right way, fundamentally sound, playing hard, and as a good teammate. I feel like I accomplished that. If that’s my legacy, I am 100 percent fine with that.”