07/25/99

By Ken Daley / The Dallas Morning News

Associated Press Robin Yount takes pride in having spent his entire 20-year major league career with the Milwaukee Brewers.

The beer commercial he shot with close friend George Brett made light of Robin Yount's 77 percent voting welcome into the baseball Hall of Fame. But to Milwaukee fans, Yount's election in his first year of eligibility was 100 percent appropriate.

"The Kid," as Yount still is known around Wisconsin even at age 43, enters the Hall as its first representative of the Milwaukee Brewers. Previous inductees Henry Aaron (1982), Rollie Fingers (1992) and Don Sutton (1998) also played for the Brewers but went into the Hall wearing other teams' caps. Yount played his entire 20-year career in Milwaukee, becoming the Brewers' franchise leader in virtually every offensive category.

"What made Robin great was his attitude and work ethic," said Brewers general manager Sal Bando, a teammate of Yount's for five seasons. "He never asked for special treatment. He was just one of the guys."

But Yount also bears distinction. He was a throwback not only for his unrelenting competitiveness and unwavering professionalism on the field, but also for shunning the siren song of free agency.

"I'm really proud of that fact," Yount told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "The people in Milwaukee and around . . . [Wisconsin] had a lot to do with that. They are genuine, real people. And loyal, down-home fans.

"You've got to enjoy what you're doing, and it was very easy to enjoy playing in Milwaukee. It's certainly an honor to be the first player in the Hall of Fame to wear a Brewers uniform. It's hard to describe how good that feels."

Only once was Yount seriously tempted to leave. The California Angels wooed him seriously after the 1989 season. It had been seven years since the Brewers' last trip to the World Series, and Yount, who had just won his second American League Most Valuable Player award, hungered for another. He was understandably concerned about the low-budget Brewers' prospects but eventually was swayed by the impassioned pleas of fans and team owner Bud Selig.

It was a decision Yount said has caused him no regrets, even though he never appeared in another post-season game. "It's really where my heart was all along," he said.

Yount, the third overall pick of the 1973 draft, broke in with the Brewers as a skinny, 18-year-old shortstop, having played only 64 games in the minor leagues.

He finished his career as an outfielder and occasional first baseman in 1993. But he had punched his ticket to Cooperstown one year earlier, getting his 3,000th career hit on Sept. 9, 1992, at County Stadium against Cleveland pitcher Jose Mesa.

The milestone came one week before his 37th birthday, making Yount the third-youngest player to reach the plateau, trailing only Ty Cobb and Aaron. On Sunday, he joins those players in the Hall.