MLB

Former Met, Yankee takes swing in films

Todd Zeile is looking for another kind of hit these days. He collected 2,004 of them over his 16-year major league career, playing for 11 teams, including the Mets and Yankees.

Now he is his own boss in the movie business. He has a new company, after dissolving a previous partnership that didn’t work out. He believes he has made a special movie, one that has deep meaning. In his baseball afterlife, Zeile is going for the home run.

“I have a new partner and we just completed what amounts to a feature that is a faith-based version of ‘Crash,'” Zeile said. “There are 10 story lines in Los Angeles around the 10 Freeway. The faith component of it is that all Ten Commandments are depicted in the journey.”

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Give Zeile credit for trying to break new ground in the film industry. He said an initial showing of the film this week was extremely favorable.

“We are looking to release it in the fall of 2010,” he said. “We’re excited about it.”

The film is called “I Am.” In his portion of the movie, Zeile plays the role of a father. His son Garrett, an accomplished singer and guitarist, plays the role of his son. Zeile is an aging rocker who is not able to embrace his son, the emerging rocker. There are some heavy twists and turns in the plot as the son tragically is killed and the father’s career is re-established, but his newfound success is based on a terrible lie.

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“There are some lessons to be learned,” Zeile said.

Garrett, 16, also is the lead guitarist and vocalist for a band called JetStream that is signed by RCA, so playing the role of a rock star was a natural for him. The band features Classic Rock and original songs.

Todd has a clear understanding of where Garrett picked up his love for that kind of music. When they drove together to the ballpark before games, that’s the music Zeile had pounding from the speakers.

“He likes it all from Hendrix on down,” Todd said.

It doesn’t hurt that Garrett shares a birthday with Jimi Hendrix.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to step out and be supportive of what he is doing on the music side, it’s exciting for me,” Zeile said.

JetStream is a roaring success in Ventura County and is perched for much bigger things. Tomorrow night the band will open for comedian George Lopez at the Nokia Theatre in L.A.

“It’s a big deal for them, they’ll be playing in front of 7,000 people,” Zeile said. JetStream also has appeared on “Lopez Tonight” on TBS.

The future is so bright Garrett may need shades. His mother is 1984 Olympic Gold Medal gymnast, Julianne McNamara-Zeile, so the spotlight comes naturally to the Zeile family.

Todd, 44, always has found his way into entrepreneurial ventures. He also is involved in a company called BlueNose Edutainment that is committed to hands-on participatory learning through a combination of education and entertainment. The lesson plans focus on movies, music and sports as a way to motivate students from grades 5-12.

“We’re seeing great results throughout state tests,” Zeile said. “It’s an exciting company and it’s got great growth potential. We’re proud of the work and the results. It’s a very cool way to motivate and teach. It’s really been effective.”

Zeile and his wife have four children, so they know what it takes to motivate students at all levels.

“The kids range from kindergarten to 10th grade,” he said. Julianne also has a successful children’s clothing boutique she started with her sister called Hipster Kid.

“I’ll work the register a couple days a week when the kids are in school,” said Zeile, who could always take on multiple tasks in baseball.

At some point, Zeile, who had a manager’s eye when he played, is hopeful of getting back into the game.

“I want to get some things across the finish line first,” he said, “and then look at the next challenge.”

kevin.kernan@nypost.com