"Robin Yount Returns to The Brewers!"

Earlier today, in an unprecedented move, and in hopes of pulling out of late-season slump, the Milwaukee Brewers fired manager Ned Yost. Third-base coach Dale Sveum (a former Brewers player) will take over as interim manager, and carry the team to the end of the season.

His first order of business: hire Hall of Famer Robin Yount as the new bench coach.

In 1973, 18-year-old Yount was a first-round draft pick with the Brewers. He debuted the following year, and played the rest of his career with the team, retiring at the end of the 1993 season. In 1999 he was voted straight into the Hall of Fame.

From 2002-2004, Yount served as a coach on the Arizona Diamondbacks, before stepping down when the team's manager was dismissed. In 2005, Ned Yost hired him to rejoin the Brewers as the bench coach. However, in November 2006, Yount stepped down once again in order to spend more time with his family. Now, two years later, he's back!

So, what's so exciting about his return?

Well, Robin Yount is to the Milwaukee Brewers, what Brett Favre was to the Green Bay Packers -- a living legend. During his career, he was a 3x All-Star, a 2x MVP, and a Gold Glove winner. He played two positions (SS/OF), and led the Brewers to their only World Series appearance in 1982. I grew up watching Yount play. He was my childhood hero; I even have his autograph. And in 1992, when he gained his 3,000th hit, I was one of the fans in attendance at the game.

Yes, my admiration of Robin Yount ran deep. But, it would soon go even deeper.

A year later, in 1993 (just after my family moved to Minneapolis), I submitted an essay to a sportswriting contest hosted by the Minnesota Twins. The theme was "The Glory of Baseball", and I decided to write about my Robin Yount 3,000 hit experience. I turned it in, and waiting to hear the results. In August, it was finally announced: 13-year-old me was a grand prize winner! My little essay had won me VIP skybox tickets to a late-season Twins game!

To me, even now, Robin Yount remains an integral part of the baseball fan I've become. I followed his every success as a player, and I admire him as a coach. To hear that he is once again back with the Brewers -- the team I grew up with, the team he played all 19 years of his career with -- that's pretty darn cool!

Only 12 games remain in the 2008 Brewers season. The teams is struggling at the moment, but still in the race for a Playoff spot. And now, with the shake-up, a former Brewer at the helm, and Hall of Fame class act backing him up... things have gotten even more interesting here in the Brew City. Playoff fever is high; Can the Brewers past catch up with the present, and win this team it's first post-season appearance in 26 years?

We shall see. I, for one, will be shifting back into boyish excitement, and riding the wave all the way to the end! Yep, this is the year we do it. Go Brewers! (Go Robin!)

"Brewers fire manager Yost in midst of playoff race"

-Jon
posted by Jon at 8:11 PM  I   I  0 comments