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RAUCH, JON


Nickname:	N/A	Position:	P
Home:	Westport, Kentucky	Team:	Retired
Height:	6' 11"	Bats:	R
Weight:	290	Throws:	R
DOB:	9/27/1978	Agent:	Rex Gary
Birth City:	Louisville, Kentucky	Draft:	White Sox #3 - 1999 - Out of Morehead State (Ky.)
Uniform #:	N/A		White Sox #3 - 1999 - Out of Morehead State (Ky.)

YR	LEA	TEAM	SAL(K)	G	IP	H	SO	BB	GS	CG	SHO	SV	W	L	OBA	ERA
1999	APP	BRISTOL		14	57	65	66	16	9	0	0	2	4	4		4.45
2000	SL	BIRMINGHAM		8	56	36	63	16	8	2		0	5	1		2.25
2000	CAR	WINSTON-SALEM		18	110	102	124	33	18	1		0	11	3		2.86
2001	IL	CHARLOTTE		6	28	28	27	7	6	0	0	0	1	3		5.79
2002	IL	CHARLOTTE		19	109	91	97	42	19	1	0	0	7	8		4.28
2002	AL	WHITE SOX	$200.00	8	28.2	28	19	14	6	0	0	0	2	1	0.248	6.59
2003	IL	CHARLOTTE		24	125	121	94	35	23	1	0	0	7	1		4.11
2004	IL	CHARLOTTE		14	72	57	61	25	13	0	0	0	6	3		3.11
2004	PCL	EDMONTON		3	18	17	13	2	3	0	0	0	1	1		4.50
2004	NL	EXPOS		9	23.1	14	18	7	2	0	0	0	3	0	0.175	1.54
2004	NL	WHITE SOX		2	8.2	16	4	4	2	0	0	0	1	1	0.432	6.23
2005	NL	NATIONALS		15	30	24	23	11	1	0	0	0	2	4	0.218	3.60
2005	PCL	NEW ORLEANS		7	21	19	25	2	5	0	0	0	1	1		2.53
2006	NL	NATIONALS	$335.00	85	91.1	78	86	36	0	0	0	2	4	5	0.231	3.35
2007	NL	NATIONALS	$455.00	88	87.1	75	71	21	0	0	0	4	8	4	0.23	3.61
2008	NL	NATIONALS		48	48.1	42	44	7	0	0	0	17	4	2	0.232	2.98
2008	NL	DIAMONDBACKS		26	23.1	27	22	9	0	0	0	1	0	6	0.303	6.56
2009	AL	DIAMONDBACKS		58	54.1	57	35	17	0	0	0	2	2	2	0.266	4.14
2009	AL	TWINS		17	15.2	13	14	6	0	0	0	0	5	1	0.245	1.72
2010	AL	TWINS	$2,900.00	59	57.2	61	46	14	0	0	0	21	3	1	0.268	3.12
2011	AL	BLUE JAYS	$3,500.00	53	52	56	36	14	0	0	0	11	5	4	0.269	4.85
2012	NL	METS	$3,500.00	73	57.2	45	42	12	0	0	0	4	3	7	0.209	3.59
2013	NL	MARLINS	$1,000.00	15	16.2	23	15	7	0	0	0	0	1	2	0.329	7.56
2013	IL	NORFOLK		10	9.1	9	10	4	0	0	0	0	1	0		2.89

Jon received first team all-state academic honors during his four years at Oldham County High School in Kentucky. His parents, Ed and Laurel Rauch, promised their son that he could play baseball if received good grades in school. Rauch, whose favorite subjects were math and physics, kept up his end of the bargain.

"My parents enforced that I had to make good grades before I had to do anything else," Rauch said Thursday. "It was more of a reward for me. You kind of enjoyed it a little more when you worked for it." (Bill Ladson-MLB.com-3/17/05)

A LITTLE BASKETBALL
Because Jon is 6-foot-10, and from Louisville, he is asked about basketball a lot. But he explains that baseball is his first love, basketball being "just something to do."
Rauch did play basketball in his junior year at Oldham County High School in Kentucky. He intended to play his senior year, but had a falling out with the coach because he preferred to focus on baseball rather than attend basketball camps.
When Jon wasn't drafted out of high school, he says he didn't envision a pro baseball career. Instead, he planned to double-major in physics and business management and pursue a career in automotive engineering and design.

"When I was a kid, I always had car magazines and always wanted to go to the auto shows," he recalled. Jon now drives a silver Camaro SS with the seats moved back four inches to accomodate his height.
Rauch blames rumors about his work ethic for dropping to Round 3 in the 1999 draft. But, the White Sox took him, realizing his junior season at Morehead State was below normal because of a bout with viral meningitis
Rauch wasn't drafted out of high school, but was an academic all-state player all four years. He was pursuing a double major in physics and business management before the White Sox signed him for a bonus of $310,000. "I never thought I'd be here," Jon said. "This was always a dream because I was more of a scholar than an athlete."

INAUSPICIOUS DEBUT
In May 2004, after Rauch was called up from the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, he gave five runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings. Then, he left the clubhouse before the end of the game. That drew criticism from White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams and several teammates. Williams said that Rauch may never pitch for the White Sox again.

"It's a longstanding rule that you stick around until the end of the ballgame," Williams said. Rauch later offered apologies and called it a misunderstanding. Jon heard Kenny Williams' comments on a local radio show as he was driving with his family to their home in Louisville and called the radio station to give his side of the story.
In June 2004, the White Sox called Rauch back up. GM Kenny Williams had a talk with Jon. "The one thing I told him on the plane coming back from Montreal, when we finally had a chance to talk about what transpired here when he left the game early, was that I was proud of him," Williams said. "I'm proud of him for being able to go back down, under the circumstances of what I said and what his teammates said about him, and he focused and got the job done and earned his right to get back.
"Nothing was given to him. That showed me a little bit of intestinal fortitude, a little bit of toughness. In Chicago, believe it or not, that's part of the equation you have to have in order to survive in this town as a professional athlete."

BODY ART
Rauch has a number of tattoos.

"I've got Olympic rings on my left ankle, from being part of the gold medal team in Sydney," says Rauch, who gave up one run and struck out 21 in 11 innings during the 2000 Games. "Had to commemorate that."

It's one of many special moments Rauch carries on him.

"The two that mean the most to me: I have Roman numerals starting at my neck and going all the way down my spine that commemorate my wedding day�Sept. 7, 2001," he says of his marriage to the former Erica Jurko. (The Chinese symbols are a homage to himself: They mean "tall fire.")

"Then I had a little girl on Dec. 6, Aubree Elizabeth. I've got her footprints and her name and birthday on my right calf. I took the piece of paper with the footprints from the hospital to the guy who does my stuff. He did a stencil off that paper." (Ben Reiter-Sports Illustrated-4/16/07)

After Jon joined the D'Backs in 2008, he added more tat work.

"I had an olive wreath put around my wedding band up here on the right side of my neck. And then I got my second daughter's footprints on my lower right leg. I've got both girls on there now and if I have a boy, I've got room on the inside of my leg," Rauch said.
Rauch says of himself, "I'm pretty straightforward with just about everything. There's no sugar-coating things. I like to have some fun every now and then and joke around, but nothing too crazy."
In his spare time, Jon hangs out with his family. And he likes to work on cars that he owns.
July 2008: About six weeks after Jon's wife, Erica gave birth to their second child, Haylee, on April 11, she suffered stress fractures in both her legs because of a condition called postpartum osteoporosis. She was in a wheelchair for two months.

They learned of her condition before the All-Star break. He was traded about a week later.

"Her body didn't absorb the calcium from the prenatal vitamins," Rauch said. "Basically, the baby and the fetus took everything it needed from her body, and it left her with brittle bones."
"Just trying to deal with that and then the trade in the midst of all of it," he said, "I just fell apart mentally."
Rauch had a 15.12 ERA during 2009 spring training, but still started the season as the D'Backs' 7th-inning setup guy.
Jon wears uniform #60 to honor former Met scott schoeneweis after his wife passed away in 2009.

"I changed my number to honor him," Rauch said. "He's a great man, great father, and was a great teammate."

TRANSACTIONS
June 1999: The White Sox drafted Jon in the third round, out of Morehead State University in Kentucky.
July 18, 2004: The Expos sent OF Carl Everett to the White Sox, acquiring Rauch and P Gary Majewski.
February 2, 2008: The Nats and Rauch avoided salary arbitration and agreed to a two-year, $3.2 million contract. It calls for $1.2 million in 2008 and $2 million in 2009. The deal also includes a club option for $2.9 million in 2010 that must be exercised within five days of the end of the 2008 World Series (which the D'Backs did).
July 22, 2008: The Diamondbacks sent 2B Emilio Bonifacio to the Nationals, acquiring Rauch.
August 28, 2009: The Twins sent P Kevin Mulvey to the Diamondbacks, acquiring Rauch.
January 17, 2011: Rauch signed with the Blue Jays, a one-year, $3.5 million contract. His contract also includes a club option for 2012 for $3.75 million (which the Jays picked up on October 31, 2011.)
December 6, 2011: Jon signed a one-year contract with the Mets.
February 5, 2013: Rauch signed with the Marlins.
May 18, 2013: The Marlins designated Jon for assignment.
June 1, 2013: Rauch signed with the Orioles organization.
July 3, 2013: Rauch obtained his free agency from the Orioles.
January 23, 2014: Jon signed with the Royals organization.

March 28, 2014: The Royals released Rauch.

PERSONAL:

Though Rauch is almost an inch taller than Randy Johnson, he is not the same kind of power pitcher as the Big Unit. Jon's four-seam FASTBALL is 90-95 mph. He also has a CURVEBALL and CUT FASTBALL that are above average. His CHANGEUP is improving.

In 2009 spring training, Jon worked on adding his CUTTER to his repertoire to get him a ground ball when he needs one. He has never been able to throw a two-seamer.

In 1998, Rauch finally caught the attention of scouts when he dominated the Shenandoah Valley League as a rising college junior. He went 8-1, 1.69 ERA with 126 strikeouts in 85 innings.
In 2000, Rauch was named Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America. He held Southern League hitters to a .179 batting average.

PRETTY TALL
Jon can be intimidating because he drives the ball down from 6-foot-11. That's a heck of an angle to hit the ball at, his height giving him arm angles hitters have never seen before. It is like another foot on his fastball. So when Rauch throws 90 it looks more like 94 mph from where he releases it.
When he made the Majors in 2001, he became the tallest pitcher in MLB history.

Eric Hillman and Randy Johnson, both lefthanders, and both 6-foot-10, were the record-holders before that.
Rauch has been dubbed "The Bigger Unit," by some people, because at 6-foot-11, he is an inch taller than Randy Johnson.
His height affords him a steep plane to the plate unmatched by any pitcher, which helps make up for his lack of fastball movement.
Though most very tall pitchers have trouble repeating correct mechanics, Jon is fundamentally sound with his. He has excellent command.
He gives up a lot of home runs.
If Rauch can add a notch or two back to his velocity and get the snap back on his breaking ball, he should develop into a solid, middle-of-the-rotation starter. If not, he could be relegated to swingman duty.
In 2006, Rauch became one of the best setup men in baseball.
As of the start of the 2013 season, Rauch had a career record of 42-38 with a 3.80 ERA, having allowed 69 home runs and 536 hits in 578 innings pitched in the Major Leagues.

PITCHING:

Jon is athletic and gets around very well for such a tall man. Bunts and balls hit right back to him give him a little trouble, though.

August 13, 2004: Rauch hit a home run off Roger Clemens. "It was," says Jon, "very much a fluke." In fact, Jon says his previous home run had come in American Legion ball.

FIELDING:

1999: Jon lost 50 pounds in a bout with viral meningitis his last year at Morehead State. (That caused him to slip to the third round of the draft.)

April 12, 2001: Rauch went on the D.L. with inflammation in his right shoulder. Then he had surgery on the shoulder in mid-May, ending the year for him after just six starts. It was to repair damage to his rotator cuff and labrum.
July 2003: Jon was sidelined with a shoulder injury while with the Charlotte Knights (IL-White Sox).
August 14-September 14, 2004: Rauch was on the D.L. with a left oblique muscle strain.
May 25-September 6, 2005: Rauch was on the D.L. with a torn right labrum. He had shoulder surgery May 31, peformed by doctors Dave Johnson and Wiemi Douoguih at Washington Hospital Center. It was the second time Rauch had labrum surgery. He had the procedure done in 2001 while with the White Sox. This time the labrum was torn.
In August 2010, Rauch had hand, foot and mouth disease, a usually minor illness that causes a few days of fever and mild symptoms like rashes and blisters. He only missed 3 games.
September and October 2010: Jon dealt with a sore knee, even having fluid drained from his left knee on September 30, but missed only a few games near the end of September/first of October. He was resting it for the Twins' post-season games.
June, 2011: Rauch dealt with a minor lateral muscle injury.
August 16-September 1, 2011: Jon was on the D.L. after undergoing an appendectomy.

September 5, 2011: Rauch was back on the D.L. with a right knee cartilage tear.
July 18, 2012: Rauch said he was in "quite a bit of pain" due to his knees filling up with fluid, "to the point where I could barely even walk." Around game time, a doctor came to the clubhouse to drain both knees and give Rauch a cortisone injection, which reduced the pain.

CAREER INJURY REPORT: