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Robin Yount

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Robin Yount
Robin Yount coaching with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2006.
Shortstop / Center fielder
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
debut
April 5, 1974, for the Milwaukee Brewers
Last appearance
October 3, 1993, for the Milwaukee Brewers
Career statistics
Batting average.285
Hits3,142
Home runs251
Runs batted in1,406
Teams
Career highlights and awards
[[{{{hoflink}}}|Member of the {{{hoftype}}}]]
[[{{{hoflink}}}|Baseball Hall of Fame]]
Induction1999
Vote77.5% (first ballot)

Robin R. Yount (Template:Pron-en; born September 16, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball player who spent his entire career with the Milwaukee Brewers (1974-1993). Yount is a member of The Baseball Hall of Fame.

Baseball career

Yount was the third pick overall in the 1973 Major League Baseball Draft, and made his major league debut the following season at only 19 years old. On September 14, 1975, he broke Mel Ott's 47-year-old record for most games played in the major leagues as a teenager. Yount courted controversy in the winter of 1978. He threatened to retire from the game and take up professional golf rather than be underpaid by the Brewers. His demands were met during spring training in 1978, and he played the full season, ultimately remaining a Brewer for the rest of his career.

Always a better-than-average hitter (career .285 batting average), by 1980 Yount had developed into a power-hitting shortstop. Yount was an All-Star in 1980, 1982, and 1983, and no other Brewer was voted a starter in consecutive years until Ryan Braun in 2008-09.[1] His three All-Star appearances are the fewest of any Hall of Famer from the post-Sall-Star Game era. Yount collected more hits in the decade of the 1980s than any other player[2] (1731) and won a Gold Glove Award in 1982. 1982 proved his finest statistical season, as he won his first MVP award and helped lead the Brewers to their only World Series appearance, where he became the only player to collect four hits in two World Series games. His career highs of 29 home runs, a .331 batting average, and 114 RBIs were all products of the 1982 season; he also stole 14 bases and had 210 hits, of which 46 were doubles and 12 were triples.

In 1985, a shoulder problem forced Yount to move to the outfield.[3] After splitting time between center field and left field, Yount became the Brewers' regular center fielder in 1986. He had a .990 fielding percentage in more than 1,200 games in the outfield; his most memorable defensive moment was surely a game-ending, diving catch to preserve a no-hitter by Juan Nieves early in the 1987 season. In 1989, Yount earned a second MVP award, making him only the third player to win MVPs at two positions, joining Hank Greenberg and Stan Musial (Alex Rodriguez would later join this group).[3] Yount was the first AL player to win multiple MVP's since the Yankees' Roger Maris (1960 & 1961) and Mickey Mantle (1956, 1957, and 1962).

On Sept. 9, 1992, Yount collected his 3,000th career hit. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, his first year of eligibility. That same year, he was named as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. He was the last active major leaguer who was a teammate of Hank Aaron (1975–1976).

His brother Larry had one of the shortest careers in major league history; while warming up for his debut start for the Houston Astros in 1971, he experienced muscle soreness and never threw an official pitch. The borthers both graduated from William Howard Taft High School in Template:City-state.

Post-playing career

Yount served as first base coach and bench coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2002 to 2004. He resigned after the dismissal of Arizona manager Bob Brenly.[4] He, Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn and Bob Uecker threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Miller Park.

In 2005, Brewers manager Ned Yost convinced Dale Sveum, both former teammates of Yount's, to become Milwaukee's new third base coach. Yount followed suit a few weeks later, accepting a post as the Brewers' bench coach.[4] In November 2006, Yount announced he would not return to the team as bench coach for the 2007 season.

He holds the Brewers' career records for games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, total bases, walks and strike outs.

In June 2008, Yount announced the creation of a new lemonade drink, Robinade. A portion of the proceeds of the sales goes to charity.[5]

On September 15, 2008, Dale Sveum named Yount his bench coach for the Milwaukee Brewers.[6]

See also

Preceded by American League Most Valuable Player
1982
1989 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ Wagner, Andrew, "Meet them in St. Louis: Fielder, Braun are All-Stars," OnMilwaukee.com, 7/5/09, accessed 7/5/09
  2. ^ "National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum". Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  3. ^ a b "The Ballplayers - Robin Yount". BaseballLibrary.com. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
  4. ^ a b "USATODAY.com". Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  5. ^ "Robinade - Old School Lemonade". Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  6. ^ "Yount reveling in another postseason". Retrieved 2008-10-03. {{cite web}}: Text "MLB.com: News" ignored (help)
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