Robin Yount was born on September 16, 1955, in Danville, Illinois. His family would not stay there long, for when he was one year old, they moved to warmer and sunnier climes. It was out on the west coast that Robin's two elder brothers showed him baseball, and taught him how to play the game. In high school Robin excelled at the game, so much so he declined a scholarship from Arizona State to play in the major leagues.
Yount was picked third in the 1973 MLB draft, after David Clyde and John Stearns, who were picked in that order. He made his debut in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform on April 5, 1974 as a shortstop. Because of his youth, Yount was only 18 years old at the time of his debut, His teammates nicknamed him "The Kid." The name would stick throughout Robin's 20 years with the Brewers. Shortly, the fans would come up with their own nickname, and dubbed him "Rockin Robin."
But before the Robin had a chance to fully rock, he was sidelined with a foot injury. While the severity of this foot injury is unknown it is presumed to have an impact on the young player. Yount, after missing a month of the season from said foot injury, attempted to break his way into the PGA Tour. Thankfully, this did not last.
1982 would be the year of the Brew Crew, and the year of Robin Yount. He hit his best in 1982, with a .331 batting average and 29 home runs. Yount also knocked in 114 RBI. If teammate Ted Simmons hit 3 more RBI, the 82 Brewers would join the 1936 New York Yankees as the only team with 5 batters with over 100 RBI. Yount became the first short stop to lead the American League in slugging and total bases. That, combined with his statistics got Yount a trip to the Mid-summer's Classic as well as the MVP Trophy. In the playoffs, the B's were able to beat Cal Ripken and his Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS. The Brewers took the fight to the St. Louis Cardinals in the Fall Classic, but lost the series in 7 games. This would mark the only time the Brewers made it all the way to the World Series. Robin would explode during this play-off, becoming the only player to have 4 hits in two different series games, whereas teammate Paul Molitor went 5-6 in game 2, becoming the only player with 5 hits in a World Series game.
In 1984, Yount would be sidelined again. This time his shoulder was acting up, and no, he didn't try picking up Golf again. Nor did he in the following season. Yount was now playing in center field after starting off the season in left. He would have his second shoulder surgery in September, after the Brewers' season ended.
In the late 80's things would start to pick up for Rockin Robin again. On June 12, 1988 he hit for the cycle against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. Hitting for the cycle consists of hitting a single, double, triple and home run in a single game. This marked the third time in club history it had occurred. In 1989, Yount would again explode, knocking in 21 homers, 103 RBI, 101 runs and almost 200 hits. This earned Robin the AL MVP award again, putting him in the company of Stan Musial and Hank Greenberg as the only three players to ever win the MVP award at two different positions. Two years later, Yount would play in his 2,500 career game.
In the early 90's, the Brewers would falter, and while Yount was not putting up numbers like his 1982 year, he was still contributing to the team. In October of 1992, Robin, along with long time friend and rival, George Brett of the Kansas City Royals were named co-winners of the Joe Cronin Award for significant achievement in Major League Baseball. When the pair of athletes met in 1993, it marked the first time two 3,000 hit players played against each other since 1925. 1993 also marked Robin Yount's 20th and final season. He officially retired from Baseball, and the Brewers, on February 11, 1994. In 1999 he was elected into the Hall of Fame alongside Orlando Cepeda, George Brett and famed pitcher Nolan Ryan. Yount is one of only two Brewers players to be elected to the hall of fame; the other is former teammate Paul Molitor.
As of 2006, Robin Yount is the hitting coach for the Brewers.
Statistics:
Positions: Shortstop & Center Field
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height 6' 0"
Weight 170 lb
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG
1974 18 MIL AL 107 344 48 86 14 5 3 26 7 7 12 46 .250 .276 .346
1975 19 MIL AL 147 558 67 149 28 2 8 52 12 4 33 69 .267 .307 .367
1976 20 MIL AL 161 638 59 161 19 3 2 54 16 11 38 69 .252 .292 .301
1977 21 MIL AL 154 605 66 174 34 4 4 49 16 7 41 80 .288 .333 .377
1978 22 MIL AL 127 502 66 147 23 9 9 71 16 5 24 43 .293 .323 .428
1979 23 MIL AL 149 577 72 154 26 5 8 51 11 8 35 52 .267 .308 .371
1980 24 MIL AL 143 611 121 179 49 10 23 87 20 5 26 67 .293 .321 .519
1981 25 MIL AL 96 377 50 103 15 5 10 49 4 1 22 37 .273 .312 .419
1982 26 MIL AL 156 635 129 210 46 12 29 114 14 3 54 63 .331 .379 .578
1983 27 MIL AL 149 578 102 178 42 10 17 80 12 5 72 58 .308 .383 .503
1984 28 MIL AL 160 624 105 186 27 7 16 80 14 4 67 67 .298 .362 .441
1985 29 MIL AL 122 466 76 129 26 3 15 68 10 4 49 56 .277 .342 .442
1986 30 MIL AL 140 522 82 163 31 7 9 46 14 5 62 73 .312 .388 .450
1987 31 MIL AL 158 635 99 198 25 9 21 103 19 9 76 94 .312 .384 .479
1988 32 MIL AL 162 621 92 190 38 11 13 91 22 4 63 63 .306 .369 .465
1989 33 MIL AL 160 614 101 195 38 9 21 103 19 3 63 71 .318 .384 .511
1990 34 MIL AL 158 587 98 145 17 5 17 77 15 8 78 89 .247 .337 .380
1991 35 MIL AL 130 503 66 131 20 4 10 77 6 4 54 79 .260 .332 .376
1992 36 MIL AL 150 557 71 147 40 3 8 77 15 6 53 81 .264 .325 .390
1993 37 MIL AL 127 454 62 117 25 3 8 51 9 2 44 93 .258 .326 .379
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG
career totals 2856 11008 1632 3142 583 126 251 1406 271 105 966 1350 .285 .342 .430
Sources:
www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/yount_robin.htm
www.baseball-reference.com/y/yountro01.shtml
www.jsonline.com/sports/brew/tue/mile10599.asp
www.pubdim.net/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/Y/Yount_Robin.stm
www.thebaseballpage.com/past/pp/yountrobin/default.htm