Robin Yount
The Milwaukee Brewers have had many great players, but Robin Yount might be regarded as the greatest Brewers player of all time. He spent his entire 20-year career with the Brewers. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999.
Yount made his big league debut at just 18 years old. He was the third overall pick in the 1973 MLB June Amateur Draft out of William Howard Taft Charter High School in California. After just one minor league season, the Brewers called him up in 1974.
Yount was the youngest player in baseball when he made his debut, helping earn him the nickname “The Kid.” Yount played 107 games as a rookie and slashed .250/.276/.346. It was the start of what became a great career for the Brewers.
Even though he may not be the most famous player to earn the nickname of “The Kid,” he is a legend in Milwaukee and helped deliver one of the most memorable seasons in franchise history.
Yount played 1,478 games at shortstop for the Brewers from 1975-1984. He was named an All-Star in 1980 for the first time. He led baseball in doubles that season and won his first career Silver Slugger Award as well.
While 1980 was his first All-Star season, what he did in 1982 will go down in Brewers history. Yount slashed .331/.379/.578. He led all of baseball in hits, doubles, slugging percentage, OPS and total bases. He was named MVP and was a key player in helping the Brewers reach their first, and only, World Series.
The Brewers did not win the World Series, but 1982 was the best season in the team’s history. He established himself as one of the best players in the sport and gave Brewers fans reason to believe their team could compete.
Despite the Brewers' World Series run, the team failed to make the postseason for the rest of Yount’s career. However, he did not leave Milwaukee. He won MVP again in 1989 and retired in 1993.
Yount has the second-most home runs in Brewers history with 251. His 29 home runs in 1982 were the most by a shortstop in franchise history until 2022. In 1992, Yount joined the prestigious 3,000-hit club, becoming the third-youngest player to reach the mark.
Yount is the Brewers' all-time leader in games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, RBIs, total bases and walks. He finished his career with a .285/.342/.430 slash line and 2,856 games played. After retiring, he spent some time as a coach. Yount is still a Brewers legend and has his number retired by the franchise.
It was the third number retired by the franchise in its history. He is the only Brewer to win multiple MVP Awards with the team. He threw out the first pitch before Game 7 of the National League Championship Series
