MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers celebrated the 50th anniversary of Robin Yount’s rookie debut into the MLB on Sunday.
What You Need To Know
- Robin Yount is a MLB Hall of Fame member who was celebrated at the Brewers game on Sunday
- He won two American League MVPs in two different positions (shortstop and outfield)
- He was drafted in 1973 in round one (No. 3 overall)
- He is the franchise leader in games played, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, RBIs, total bases and walks
He came into the league as an 18-year-old, giving him the nickname, “the Kid.” Yount said after all these years, he still remembers his first hit.
“My first hit went, like, probably 2,000 others went,” Yount said. “It’s a little shank between the first baseman and the second baseman right there, nice and easy, probably off the thumbs.”
Yount is, arguably, the greatest Brewers player in Milwaukee history. He spent his entire 20-year career with the Brewers. There was a time he almost left for another team. He said after he received letters and calls from children and the community, he knew he had to stay.
“After that, there’s no way I could leave,” he said. “I wasn’t leaving. I guess before, it was very selfish of me to want to go to the Angels and win the World Series. As I stepped back and realized how important it was for this community to have me stay here, it was the right thing to do to stay here, and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made as far as my baseball-playing career.”
Former Brewers owner Allan “Bud” Selig said he wasn’t sure about the decision to start Yount so early in his career. Former manager Del Crandall thought otherwise.
“Crandall said, ‘Well, in my opinion, it’s the right thing to do,’” Selig reminisced. “‘Maybe a little rough the first year, but he’s going to be great for many years after. So, this is the right thing they’re doing.’ That’s my memory of my conversation with Del Crandall and he was right.”
Looking back on his career, Yount said his advice to the next generation of ballplayers is simple.
“Give it all you have, every pitch of every game, like it’s the seventh game of the World Series,” he said. “If you approach your career with that in mind, in the end, you’ve done everything you can do, right? And you’ve got to live with the results.”
As a Hall of Fame inductee, two-time American League MVP, Silver Slug and Golden Glove award-winner, Yount said he takes the most pride in being a Brewer for life.