Robin Yount

Brewers Bring Back Robin Yount as Bench Coach 

“The Kid” is coming home.

The Milwaukee Brewers named Robin Yount their bench coach November 4.

Yount was a Brewers star for almost 20 years. He was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) two times. He was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.  Now, he is back home.

“I was just waiting for the right time,” Yount told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“The time seems to be here.”

Yount joined the Brewers in 1975. He was 19. His nickname was “The Kid.” Yount quickly helped Milwaukee become a World Series contender.  The World Series is baseball’s championship. 

In 1982, the team finally got there, but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. Yount won his first MVP award that year. He won it again seven years later.

Yount finished with 3,142 hits. Three thousand hits is a milestone in Major League Baseball. Only 26 players have done it.

Retired in 1994

Yount retired in 1994. He left retirement in 2002 to join the Arizona Diamondbacks as bench coach. He quit when manager Bob Brenly was fired in July of 2004. The Brewers tried for years to get Yount to return as a coach.

Yount said it is a good time to come to Milwaukee.  Most importantly, he said his youngest daughter is about to graduate high school and leave for college. That makes it easier to move from Arizona.

Also, Milwaukee recently hired Dale Sveum as its third base coach. Sveum and Yount are close friends. Sveum played with the Brewers in the 1980s. 

Yount also played with Brewers manager, Ned Yost.

Yount talent helped

Yount said he likes the current Brewers. The team has a lot of young talent. It is probably close to contending for the playoffs again.

Milwaukee finished with 81 wins and 81 losses last year. The Brewers had 12 straight losing seasons before that.

“We’ve got some talented young players here,” Yount said. “Hopefully, my 20 years of experience will help speed up their learning curve a little bit.”

The Brewers have made other changes this offseason. They traded first baseman Lyle Overbay to the Toronto Blue Jays. They got two young pitchers and an outfielder in return. The trade will allow young star Prince Fielder to play first base.

The Brewers also brought back pitcher Dan Kolb. Kolb pitched with Milwaukee in 2004 and the Atlanta Braves last year.

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel