Ask most major-leaguers to name their favorite baseball movie and they will stop for a moment to ponder whether they should pick "Field of Dreams," "The Natural" or "Bull Durham."

Jeff Cirillo is different.

"The Bad News Bears," no question," the Milwaukee Brewers infielder said before a recent game. "It's got to be the original, though. Not the remake."

The 1976 classic, which was set in the San Fernando Valley near where Cirillo learned the game as a kid, seems like a logical choice. While he still approaches his job with the enthusiasm of a little leaguer, Cirillo finds that his current situation more closely resembles a character from a different baseball comedy.

"I'm like Jake Taylor," Cirillo said, referring to the grizzled Cleveland catcher played by Tom Berenger in "Major League." "That's because we're both back from the Mexican League."

With his confidence shaken after unsuccessful stints with Seattle and San Diego, Cirillo traveled to Mexico after the 2004 season and rediscovered his hitting stroke and his desire to play. That stint, which was followed by a steady stream of phone calls, convinced Brewers general manager Doug Melvin to give Cirillo an invitation to spring training.

Though he was considered a long shot to make the roster, Cirillo won a backup job by displaying the same tenacity and offensive skill that made him a Brewers mainstay during the mid-to-late 1990s. A fractured finger cost put him on the disabled list for two months last summer, but the Brewers' all-time leader in batting average returned for the final month and is back again this year as a pinch-hit specialist, spot starter and mentor to some of the promising young players on the team.

After a recent afternoon game at Miller Park, Cirillo settled into a massage chair -- a luxury on loan from Corey Koskie in the Brewers clubhouse -- for a Milwaukee Talks interview about his relationship with Wisconsin fans, changes in the Brewers organization, steroids and religion in baseball and his hatred of slow infields.

OMC: Every time your name is introduced at Miller Park, whether it's opening day or the eighth inning of a lopsided game, you get a pretty big ovation. Have you noticed that?

Jeff Cirillo: I totally notice that the fans are behind me.

OMC: Why do you think that bond exists?

Cirillo: I think there are a couple of reasons. First of all, I just wore it on my sleeve. I was very emotional as far as playing. When I wasn't doing good, I took it hard. I took the losses hard. The other thing is that I didn't want to get traded (after the 1999 season). I think I was pretty public about the fact that I didn't want to get traded out of Milwaukee.

OMC: What did you think when you were traded?

Cirillo: I got blindsided. I think the fans were blindsided, too. I called Wendy Selig-Prieb (then the club president) two days before I got traded and I said "Wendy, what is the deal here? Am I getting traded?" She said "Jeff, I'm going to tell you right now, emphatically, there is no way you're getting traded." She called me three days later and she said "I know I told you probably weren't going to be traded." I said "Well, actually, you said I wasn't (going anywhere)." In the end, I told her I was grateful they didn't send me to Montreal, which was the other team that had shown interest."

OMC: Things worked out pretty well for you in Colorado. You made an all-star team and signed a big multi-year contract. How do you think the deal worked out for the Brewers and what do you think would have happened in your career had you stayed in Milwaukee?

Cirillo: The trade didn't work out that well for the Brewers. The guys that they got didn't do as well as they hoped. I think if I hadn't been traded (that winter), I would have been traded eventually, anyway. Davey Lopes would have seen me as another Mark Loretta -- a guy that isn't flashy and isn't going to steal bases. From what I've heard, I'm glad I didn't play for Davey Lopes.

OMC: Yeah, you missed some pretty dark days here during that period. What do you think about the organization now?

Cirillo: It's pretty solid. I'll give you a perfect example with (general manager) Doug Melvin. Name me one other team in baseball that would have stayed with J.J. Hardy last year. Not one team would have. He just stuck to his plan. They saw it wasn't affecting J.J. defensively. Even watching it from where I was, I was thinking "Oh, man. That's tough." But, they stuck with him. It was impressive.

OMC: You went through some struggles when you first came up, too. I remember when you got sent back to the minors at one point and you almost seemed relieved.

Cirillo: I was. But, I wasn't the starter, though, so it was different with J.J.. I wasn't playing at all. They threw me in there a few times and it was like "Get me out of here."