Jesús Aguilar has found a home in Milwaukee

Jesús Aguilar stepped back and laughed.

All-Star first baseman Jesús Aguilar has become so ingrained in Milwaukee, his face can be seen plastered throughout the city.

He has managed to transcend beyond the baseball diamond. That much is evident outside the Brewers’ Miller Park, where he is featured on a billboard for the Milwaukee Admirals’ hockey team.

The Nashville Predators’ American Hockey League affiliate’s billboard features a picture of Aguilar wearing an Admirals jersey. The billboard declares that “Jesús believes in #MILHockey.”

That line played off one of the most clever All-Star campaigns in recent memory,  which tied the spelling of Aguilar’s first name and the English pronunciation that is often associated with Christ.

Soon after Aguilar baseman was named as one of the four finalists of the NL Final Vote campaign for the last All-Star spot, the Brewers created a hashtag to encourage people to vote for the Venezuelan.

#WeBelieveInJesús

“I have no idea who came up with it, but it was really good,” the Maracay native said.

As humorous as it was for Aguilar, it was an effective campaign. He picked up his first All-Star nod.

“A lot of people supported that campaign and that’s what really made me happy,” Aguilar said.

The Brewers showed that they believed in Aguilar in January 2017. Aguilar had spent parts of the previous three seasons in the big leagues with the Cleveland Indians, was a Triple-A All-Star in 2015 and had just seen Cleveland reach the World Series.

Cleveland had Carlos Santana at first base and had signed Edwin Encarnación as its designated hitter, so Aguilar was designated for assignment.

That’s when Milwaukee claimed him and gave him a crack at first base.

Aguilar had 16 home runs with an .837 OPS in his first full season in the majors.

“I’m grateful to (the Brewers) because they showed confidence in my ability,” Aguilar said.

This season, Aguilar had 35 home runs, 108 RBI and an .890 OPS as the Brewers claimed the NL Central title and their first postseason appearance since 2011.

“I was able to show that I have the capacity to play at this level,” Aguilar said. “It’s a great sense of pride for me to be in this situation.”

The Brewers won nine of their last 10 games, including the final seven straight to force a one-game playoff for the NL Central crown against the rival Chicago Cubs.

Milwaukee beat the Cubs 3-1 in Wrigley and finished with the National League’s best record for home field advantage in the NL playoffs for as long as they’re alive.

“It’s something that we’ve really worked hard for all season, to play in October and it’s a really great thing to be here,” Aguilar said before the Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five Division Series against the Rockies. “The most important thing is to keep this streak going, to keep winning and get to the World Series.”

Jesús has Milwaukee believing it can do it, too. After all, “Jesús” and “Believe” go together pretty well in Wisconsin.

Featured Image: Dylan Buell / Getty Images Sport