Saturday, August 19 was Kirk Rueter day with the San Francisco Giants as the team honored the winningest lefthander in club history.
Here are some comments written by Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
San Francisco Chronicle
August 20, 2006
Woody day: Kirk Rueter, whom the Giants honored before the game, is trying to better his golf game, but as he told Robb Nen during a luncheon Saturday afternoon, "I get tired after 12 holes. He needs to come in and close for me liked he used to."
At the luncheon, Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti gave Rueter a framed, autographed Sandy Koufax jersey for the "shed," Rueter's 4,500-square-foot rumpus room and memorabilia building near his home in Illinois. The Giants presented Rueter and his family a trip to Hawaii and a life-size Woody bobblehead statue.
San Francisco Chronicle
August 25, 2006
Isn't it funny where baseball roads lead? Royce Clayton and Rich Aurilia were the last two premier shortstops in San Francisco before Omar Vizquel. Monday night in Houston, Aurilia hit a game-tying, three-run homer in the eighth inning and Clayton hit the game-winning single - for Cincinnati.
Now, both are in San Francisco for a four-game series with playoff implications. The Reds entered Thursday night's series opener with a one-game lead for the National League wild card. The Giants were tied for fourth, four games out.
Aurilia always enjoys his homecomings to San Francisco, where he played from 1995-2003, but had one complaint this time, saying, "I'm really ticked off they had Woody Day last weekend. I wish it was this weekend."
Aurilia actually saw Kirk Rueter when the Reds were in St. Louis for a recent NL Central showdown series. Rueter might not recognize Aurilia for all the flitting he does about the infield. As a Giant, Aurilia was a shortstop. As a Red, he plays all four positions.
