Jeffrey Howard Cirillo (born September 23, 1969) is an American former

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. In a 14-season career, Cirillo was a .296

hitter In baseball, batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for one's team. A batter or hitter is a person whose turn it is to face the pitcher. The three main goals of batters are to become a baserunner, to dri ...

with 112

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 727 RBI in 1617 games. He was named an

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

in and . He shares the major league record of playing 99 consecutive errorless games at third base with John Wehner. He batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

Early life

Cirillo was born in Pasadena, California, to Howard Cirillo and Carol Grant. He has one step-brother, Adam Grant, who played baseball at

UCSB The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joine ...

. Cirillo attended Providence High School where he excelled in both baseball and basketball. Then, he enrolled at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

after receiving little attention from colleges in his high school years. As a Trojan, he started out as a pitcher; however, he was moved to third base later in his college career. He was a member of the

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania in 1852. The fraternity has over ninety chapters at accredited four-year colleges and uni ...

fraternity there and graduated with a degree in communications.

Professional career

Cirillo was drafted in the 11th Round by the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

. With the Brewers, Cirillo collected a .300 batting average or better for three seasons, including a career-high .326 in . The same year, he added 198

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

(also a career-high) with 15 home runs and 88 RBI. His most productive season came in 2000 with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

, when he posted career-highs in RBI (115), runs (111), and doubles (53); finished with 195 hits; and matched his personal-best .326 average. On December 16, 2001, the Rockies traded Cirillo to the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

for Denny Stark, Brian Fuentes, and

José Paniagua José Luis Paniagua Sánchez (born August 20, 1973) is a Dominican former professional baseball relief pitcher. He appeared in Major League Baseball from 1996 through 2003 with the Montreal Expos, Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago Wh ...

. Posting the lowest BABIP since his rookie season, he was ineffective with the bat but provided strong defensive contributions while in Seattle, ranked by UZR as the second best third baseman in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

in 2002. 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). Cirillo was traded to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

before the season but was inactive most of the year with a wrist injury. He made history by becoming

Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed, "the Big Unit," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners and Arizo ...

's 4,000th strikeout victim on June 29, 2004. Rejoining the Milwaukee Brewers in , Cirillo saw a resurgence in his stroke while continuing his solid defense posting wOBA's of .355 in and .344 in . Cirillo signed a one-year contract with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

in December . He did not finish the season with the Twins and was claimed off waivers by the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

on August 3, . 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 ''Striking Out'' is an Television in the Republic of Ireland, Irish television legal drama television series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017, based on ''The Good Wife'' by Robert King (writer), Robert and Michelle King. Prod ...

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 knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch (baseball), pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from Laminar flow, lamin ...

, a slider, he was throwing some

changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball, but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced spee ...

s. Those pitches make 84, 83 ph fastballslook 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

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

who finished the 2008 season having played 1,706 straight games without a playoff berth. Cirillo has the best career all-time batting average as a Brewer: .307.As of the start of the 2025 season. Minimum 1,500 plate appearances as a Milwaukee Brewer.

Post-playing days

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. He worked as a pre/post-game show for two years in 2008 and 2011. Cirillo has worked as a part-time scout with the Arizona Diamondbacks (2009 and 2010). Cirillo was hired by the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

in 2012 as a scout. Cirillo is a partner in Pacific Baseball Ventures, LLC, which owns the Walla Walla Sweets and the Yakima Valley Pippins. Both teams play in the West Coast League, a summer collegiate wood-bat league located in

Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,339 as of 2023. The combined populat ...

. Cirillo is also an assistant baseball coach for the Bellevue High School baseball team, where he has coached his sons Cole (class of 2016), Carson (class of 2018), and Connor (class of 2019).

Personal life

Cirillo has three sons with his ex-wife Nancy: Cole (born 1997), Carson (born 1999), and Connor (born 2001). The Cirillo family lived in

Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin Whitefish Bay is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 14,954 at the 2020 census. A suburb north of Milwaukee along the shore of Lake Michigan, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. History In th ...

, during Jeff's time on the Milwaukee Brewers. His son, Cole, played football and basketball, as well as participating in track and field events, at Bellevue High School before graduating in 2016. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the

in 2020 and is currently a Management Consulting Associate at KPMG. Carson, a 2018 graduate, played varsity baseball and golf at Bellevue High School, now attending the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound is a private liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1888. The institution offers a variety of undergraduate degrees as well as five graduate programs in counseling, education, oc ...

, and Connor, who played basketball and baseball, graduated in 2019 with the intention of attending the

as well.

References

External links