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Birth Name: Jeffrey Howard Cirillo
Nick Name: none
Teams: Milwaukee 1994-1999 (#26)
Colorado 2000-2001 (#7)
Seattle 2002-2003 (#9, #7)
San Diego 2004 (#7)
Milwaukee 2005-2006 (#6)
Minnesota 2007
Arizona 2007
Birth Place:
Pasadena, CA Resides: Redmond, WS
Height: 6′2 Weight: 190 lbs.
Position: Third base
Throws: Right Bats: RightCollege:
University of
Southern California Drafted: Brewers #11 pick of the 1991
amateur
draft
Debut: May 11, 1994
Personal: Wife Nancy, Three sons: Cole, Carson and Connor
During his time in Seattle
fielding grounders during spring training
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Arriving from the 11th round of the 1991 draft, Jeff Cirillo put together a solid major league career. While he was never regarded as the top player at his position he always gave it his all and tried his best to put on a smile even during his struggles.Cirillo twice appeared in the All Star Game and was widely seen around baseball as the best defensive player at his position, Vin Scully once said “his hands are as soft as gold”. He achieved a .300 faverage five times in his career and in 2001 and set an NL record with consecutive games played at third base without an error.Jeff not only participates as a member of CaP CURE (Prostate Cancer Foundation), but also conducts celebrity bowling tournaments for the Child Abuse Prevention Fund.In 1987 Jeff Cirillo was drafted in the 37th round by the Chicago Cubs in the Amateur Draft. Jeff had lettered in both basketball and baseball at Providence high school in
Burbank CA. However Jeff choose to go to USC rather then began a career in the majors. When he graduated USC in 1992 he had a degree in communications to go along with being a two time ALL-PAC 10 selection.The Brewers drafted him in round 11 of the 1991 amateur draft and he work his way into being named as part of the Pioneer League All-Stars. Following a strong 1993 season in the minors Cirillo found himself in triple-A to start the 1994 season. On May 10th he joined the team and on May 11th he made his first appearance as a defensive replacement at third base against the Boston Red Sox. His first hit in the big leagues came off of Terry Mulholland two days later and compiled a 12 game hitting streak from July 14th-26th.In his second season in the league Cirillo put together solid numbers and seemed on the way to becoming a star. His .277/.371/.442 numbers were one of the few bright spots on a team that finished 14 games under .500. Cirillo played each of the four infield positions that season. His .325 average in 1996 was the highest for a second year player in Brewer history and set a career best 14 game hit streak between June 26 and July 13th.In the summer of 1997 Jeff made his way to Cleveland to take part in his first all star game. His .362 average with RISP was fourth in the AL and on May 30th against
Chicago he hit his first grand slam off of James Baldwin. He notched his first game winning home run off of Heathcliff Slocumb of the Red Sox with two out in the ninth inning.In 1998 Cirillo continued to improve at the plate setting career highs in average, OBP, steals. He lead the league in fielding percentage at third and tied a national league record with 45 double plays turned. He continued his improvement into the 1999 season. Again ranking towards the top in fielding as well as at the plate. His 64 multi hit games was second in the NL and he came within 2 hits of reaching 200 for the season. He tired a career high with five hits July 3rd at Pittsburgh and again on August 27th at
San Diego. He was named NL Player of the Week for September 12-19 after hitting .467 with
two home runs, five doubles seven runs and six RBIs. Following the 1999 season he was traded in a three team deal to
Colorado. In 2000 with the Rockies Cirillo pretty much matched his stats of the previous season. He made his second all star team this time joining the NL team in
Atlanta. He was selected as NL Player of the Week for June 26-July 2nd and his 53 doubles were second in the league. That made him the first player to ever amass 45 doubles in both leagues. On June 18th he again matched his career high of five hits and had got both his 1000th hit and career high 7th RBI off of Trey Moore August 12th in
Montreal. His 115 RBIS are all the more impressive since he hit only 11 home runs. In 2001 Cirillo ranked first in the majors in fielding percentage with a .982 percentage at third base. He set a NL single season record for consecutive errorless games at third base with 85 and consecutive chances without an error 228. According to Elias he hit MLB’s 200,000th HR since 1900 with an April 4th blast against the Cardinals. On April 19th in
San Diego he drove in his 500th career RBI and landed on the DL for the first time later that month. On June 20th in Houston Cirillo played in his 1000th career game.Prior to the 2002 season Cirillo was again on the move this time to
Seattle. Aside from providing the Mariners with his league leading .973 fielding percentage he tied for second in sac bunts and eight in sac flies. Overall his 2002 season was a bit of a letdown for Cirillo. His 2003 season at the plate was even worse. Tallying the worst stats of his career and a laundry list of injuries Cirillo played in only 84 games the lowest total since 1994.Before the 2004 season he was again on the move in a trade. Playing for the Padres Cirillo played as a backup and collected only 75 at bats. He looked confused at the plate and the team was loaded with out options so Cirillo never got a chance to play himself out of his slump. After the 2004 season he became a free agent.While many were calling him washed up, Cirillo joined Brewers came as a non roster invitee for the 2005 spring. After working hard in Spring Training Cirillo made the Brewers and started on Opening Day going 2-3 with a double, home run and two RBI. He hit .281 in 77 contests for
Milwaukee belting four round trippers and driving in 23 runs. Jeff equaled his career mark with a pair of stolen bases on May 25 vs.
Colorado marking his first multi-steal contest since 2002. A injury in June forced him to miss two months of the season but he returned to the Brew Crew in September. In his first start back Cirillo went 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and two walks. A week later he had a walk-off RBI single off of Cubs reliever Ryan Dempster. In total Cirillo appeared in 77 games making 41 starts…played 53 games at third base, three games at second base and one game at first.
2006
On November 21, 2005 he signed a one-year contract worth $850,000 with the Brewers. In 112 games and 263 at-bats Cirillo hit .319/.369/.414/.784 with 3 homers and 23 RBIs. He also notched his 1,500th hit in 2006.
2007
Cirillo signed a one year deal with the Minnesota Twins in December. He was claimed off waivers by the Arizona Diamondbacks in August and made the first pitching appearance of his career on August 20th. He pitched one inning allowing two walks and striking out one. Before the start of the 2007 NLDS he had played in 1,617 regular season games without one playoff game.
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