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Friday, June 25, 2004
Go 2 Guy: Seldom-used Cirillo keeps his head up
The Go 2 Guy dreams of making millions of dollars for doing next to nothing, living on the beach at Del Mar and surfing every day.
This is Jeff Cirillo's lot in life now, and I would say it's a lot compared to a lot of lots.
Cirillo agrees, but for most of his career, he was an everyday player who hit .300. He hopes for the chance to do that again.
Going from maligned Mariner to seldom-used Padre, Cirillo makes his first return to Safeco Field tonight.
I talked to Cirillo Wednesday afternoon as he was driving to Petco Park, preparing for a rare start at second base.
General impression: He's doing OK, not great, but OK. He wants to be playing more but understands why he's not -- the players ahead of him at first base and third base, Phil Nevin and Sean Burroughs, are producing.
He tries to hang in there and capitalize on his few opportunities. On Wednesday night he did, going 2-for-4 against Randy Johnson, picking up his second RBI of the season in a 4-3 Padres victory, raising his average to .216.
Mostly he pinch hits, occasionally he starts, collecting eight hits in 37 at-bats. He is excited about coming back because he can spend the weekend with his family at their home in Redmond.
Cirillo didn't say much, not wanting any of his comments to be misconstrued or twisted in any way, as if the Go 2 Guy would ever do that.
He's surprised at the Mariners' struggles and sorry it didn't work out in his two years here. He said he looks at the Mariners' box scores almost every day, carrying no bitterness toward his former team.
Cirillo admits he's more comfortable and happy-go-lucky in San Diego, saying: "We've got good chemistry. I think I play a big part in that. I help keep the clubhouse loose. I'm making the best of it."
There's a sense he won't be completely whole again until his bat heats up and turns him into the player who warranted a $29 million, four-year investment from the Colorado Rockies.
Moved on, yes. Moved up, no. "It's more like a sidestep," Cirillo said.
His swing fundamentals seem all right, but he has a hard time knowing with so little playing time.
Asked how he's doing mentally, Cirillo said: "My frame of mind is great. Sometimes I catch myself wondering about what could have been or thinking about where things went wrong. But then I remind myself to stay in the present."
As a Mariner, Cirillo tried too hard, wanting so badly to be effective, flailing and ultimately failing.
He's 34, young enough to recapture his stroke, but you wonder if he ever will. The thing is, Cirillo does, too.
"I worry about that, yeah," he said.
Then you wonder if Cirillo would be OK with that or if it would eat at him forever.
"It won't," Cirillo said.
His contract ends next year, with another $7 million or $8 million coming in, and Cirillo will see it through regardless of the circumstances.
"I won't walk away from anything," he said.
This weekend Cirillo doesn't know what to expect, guessing that fan reaction might be "very mixed."
Although he twice played as a designated hitter against Toronto and Boston, Cirillo doesn't think he will DH here and did not explain why.
But manager Bruce Bochy might feel otherwise, with Cirillo coming off a two-hit game.
Like always, he hopes to play. I'd like to see him face his demons and smack them around, then when they get up, smack them around again.
If Cirillo delivers a game-winning blow at Safeco Field, it would be wonderfully ironic or incredibly sad that it didn't happen in his old uniform
To his credit, Cirillo won't seek revenge as much as a few more base hits and the revival of his career.
PET PROJECT
Last year, Jeff Cirillo bet the Go 2 Guy he would hit .280, offering to donate $20,000 to charity if he didn't.When he finished the season at .205, Cirillo donated $10,000 to Alpine Animal Hospital in Issaquah, which used the money for a pet fund to offset treatment costs for low-income pet owners; and Kitsap Humane Society, which established a spay-and-neuter clinic for the needy.
At Alpine, where veterinarian Teresa Tomchick, right, accepted a check from Cirillo last October, the fund helped a deaf client, whose service dog, a Pomeranian named Foxy, needed a tumor removed. It also helped a cat named Rose, who lives at a rest home. Rose had bad teeth and required dental work.
A black lab named Lucky suffered a badly damaged leg when he was hit by a car. Rather than pay for surgery to save his leg, his owner gave him up for adoption.
The Alpine staff adopted him and found him a home, using the pet fund to help with surgery costs. He was Lucky after all, yet his name was changed to Cinder.
At Kitsap Humane Society, many are getting their pets spayed and neutered for free.
After Cirillo's donation was announced to start the clinic, another $18,000 was raised from donations.
-- Jim Moore
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