Jeff Cirillo
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| Jeff Cirillo | |
|---|---|
| Third baseman | |
| Born: September 23, 1969 Pasadena, California |
|
| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| May 11, 1994 for the Milwaukee Brewers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 30, 2007 for the Arizona Diamondbacks | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .296 |
| Home runs | 112 |
| Runs batted in | 727 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Jeffrey Howard Cirillo (born September 23, 1969 in Pasadena, California) is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball. In a 14-season career, Cirillo was a .296 hitter with 112 home runs and 727 RBI in 1617 games. He was named an All-Star in 1997 and 2000. He is the Brewers all-time career leader in batting average at .306. He shares the major league record of playing 99 consecutive errorless games at third base with John Wehner. He batted and threw right-handed.
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[edit] Professional career
With the Brewers, Cirillo collected a .300 batting average or better for three seasons, including a career-high .326 in 1999. The same year, he added 198 hits (also a career-high) with 15 home runs and 88 RBI. His most productive season came in 2000 with the Rockies, when he posted career-highs in RBI (115), runs (111) and doubles (53); finished with 195 hits, and matched his personal-best .326 average.
Before the 2002 season, Cirillo was traded to the Seattle Mariners. Posting the lowest BABIP since his rookie season he was ineffective with the bat but provided strong defensive contributions while in Seattle, ranking by UZR the second best thirdbaseman in the American League in 2002.[1] In 2003 he continued to provide above average defense but again posted the lowest BABIP of his career (.226 compared to a .320 career average)[2]
He was traded to the San Diego Padres before the 2004 season, but was inactive most of the year with a wrist injury. He made history by becoming Randy Johnson's 4,000th strikeout victim on June 29, 2004.
Rejoining the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005, Cirillo saw a resurgence in his stroke while continuing his solid defense posting wOBA's of .355 in 2005 and .344 in 2006.
Cirillo signed a one-year contract with the Minnesota Twins in December 2006. He did not finish the season with the Twins and was claimed off waivers by the Diamondbacks on August 3, 2007. Cirillo stated that he would most certainly retire at the end of the 2007 season. He made the first pitching appearance of his career on August 20, 2007, against Milwaukee. He pitched one inning and gave up two walks and no runs while striking out one player, former Diamondback Craig Counsell. "He's way nastier than I thought he would be," said Bill Hall, who worked one of the walks. "I was shocked when I got up there. He's got a knuckleball, a slider, he was throwing some changeups. Those pitches make 84, 83 [mph fastballs] look pretty hard. I heard he was a better pitcher in college than he was a hitter."
Before the 2007 NLDS, Cirillo held one of baseball's most unwanted records. He had played in 1,617 regular season games, but never in the postseason. When his team made the playoffs, the title was passed to Damion Easley of the Mets who finished the 2008 season having played 1,706 straight games without a playoff berth.
[edit] Sportscaster
On April 2, 2008, it was announced that Cirillo would join FSN Wisconsin as an analyst for Milwaukee Brewers broadcasts. His first appearance was on April 18, 2008.
[edit] Walla Walla Sweets
Cirillo is a partner in Pacific Baseball Ventures, LLC, which owns the Walla Walla Sweets. The Sweets play in the West Coast League, a summer collegiate wood-bat league located in Walla Walla, Washington.[3]
[edit] Family
Cirillo and his wife, Nancy, have three sons : Cole (born 12-23-1997), Carson (10-29-1999) and Conner (born 5-24-2001).[4]
The Cirillo family lived in Whitefish Bay, WI during Jeff's time on the Milwaukee Brewers
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=3b&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=y&type=1&season=2002&month=0&season1=2002&ind=0
- ^ http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1073&position=3B
- ^ "Baseball Coming to Walla Walla". KVEW TV. 1 October 2009. http://www.kvewtv.com/sports/?sect_rank=4§ion_id=2&story_id=18913. Retrieved 30 January 2010.[dead link]
- ^ Jeff Cirillo Stats, Bio, Photos, Highlights
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- Behind the Dugout: Jeff Cirillo
- publicradio.org Interview with Cirillo
- http://www.kffl.com/player/5341/mlb
- http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070820&content_id=2160549&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil
- 1969 births
- Living people
- Milwaukee Brewers players
- Colorado Rockies players
- Seattle Mariners players
- San Diego Padres players
- Minnesota Twins players
- Arizona Diamondbacks players
- American League All-Stars
- Baseball players from California
- Major League Baseball third basemen
- National League All-Stars
- USC Trojans baseball players
- Helena Brewers players
- Beloit Brewers players
- Stockton Ports players
- El Paso Diablos players
- New Orleans Zephyrs players
- Colorado Springs Sky Sox players
- Arizona League Mariners players
- Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino players
- Tacoma Rainiers players
- Portland Beavers players
- Nashville Sounds players
- Fort Myers Miracle players
- People from Redmond, Washington
