tullyThe resurgence of Jeff Cirillo's major league baseball career continues.
Two weeks ago, the Brewers continued to add depth by signing the former Providence High standout to a one-year contract reportedly worth $850,000.
Cirillo is a 10-year veteran who revived his career in 2005 after coming to Milwaukee as a minor league invitee to spring training.
Cirillo, 36, is the Brewers' all-time career batting average leader and represented Milwaukee as an All-Star in 1997 before a 1999 trade sent him to Colorado. But after a successful stint there, he signed as a free agent with the Seattle Mariners and began a three-year slump that ended with his release from the Padres in 2004.
Cirillo appeared in just 33 games for San Diego, batting .213 (16 for 75) with three doubles, one home run and seven runs batted in.
The Brewers took a chance on Cirillo after his successful stint in winter ball last year, and it paid off. He made the opening day roster and batted .281 with four home runs and 23 runs batted in despite missing nearly two months with a fractured left ring finger. In the field, Cirillo played 53 games at third base, three games at second and one game at first.
A lifetime .297 hitter, Cirillo needs 34 hits for 1,500 in his career. He reportedly will earn $100,000 bonuses for 150, 200 and 250 plate appearances. Milwaukee paid him the minimum $316,000 last season.
In 1999, his average was fifth-best in the league, and he was second in the league in singles (147), third in hits (198), eighth in plate appearances (697) and ninth in at-bats (607). He also had 15 home runs and 88 RBI.
In 2000, he led all National League third basemen in batting average (.326) and hits (195). He also established a lifetime best 115 RBI.
A star athlete at Providence and USC, Cirillo helped the Pioneer baseball team win a CIF Southern Section Small Schools title in 1986.
Larquier will be team captain for Virginia: Although the University of Virginia softball team doesn't open its season until Feb. 17, Sara Larquier has already taken a leadership role with the squad.
Cavalier Coach Keren Johns has named fourth-year players Larquier, a Burroughs High graduate, Jackie Greer, Erin Horn and Jessica Taylor as 2006 team captains.
Larquier, a third baseman, is a three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer and was named the 2005 ACC Player of the Year.
She captured Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Assn. third-team All-America accolades in 2004 after earning first-team All-Southeast Region honors.
Larquier is a .354 career hitter. Her average ranks fourth all-time at Virginia and she holds the school record with a .629 slugging percentage and her 93 extra-base hits are one shy of a record.
She is second all-time at Virginia in home runs (27), RBI (154), and doubles (51) and also ranks fifth in hits (209), triples (15), and eighth in runs (102).
The 2002 Leader Female Athlete of the Year, Larquier was a standout basketball, volleyball and softball player at Burroughs.
-- Jeff Tully
