Shortstop, Milwaukee
Brewers
Age: 27 (Sept. 16)
9th season
with Brewers
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’0” Weight: 165
Prior to 1982:
Born in
Illinois, Yount grew up in Woodland Hills, California, where he excelled in
playing shortstop at Taft High School and was the third overall pick by the
Brewers in the 1973 amateur draft. Assigned to the Newark Co-Pilots of the
Class A NewYork-Pennsylvania League, he batted .285 in 64 games and made the
jump to the shortstop-deficient Brewers at age 18 in 1974. “The Kid” showed his
potential while honing his craft at the major league level, hitting .250 in 107
games until he was sidelined by a foot injury. His range and throwing arm at
short was also very satisfactory. Yount started off strong in 1975 until he was
again hindered by a foot injury and tailed off in the field, where he committed
44 errors, as well as at the plate where he batted .267 with 28 doubles, 8 home
runs, and 52 RBIs. He stayed healthy in
1976, appearing in 161 games, and hit .252 while leading AL shortstops in total
chances (831) and put outs (290), and dropped his errors to 31 for the last
place Brewers. A 1977 season in which his batting average rose to .288 was
followed by his walking out of spring training in 1978, indicating that he
might prefer to become a professional golfer rather than continue with
baseball. Returning to the Brewers, Yount missed the first month of the season
but still hit .293 with 9 home runs and 71 RBIs. The Brewers rose to second
place in the AL East in 1979 and Yount contributed a .267 average with 8 home
runs and 51 RBIs along with steady play in the field. With the team desiring
greater power production out of his bat, he engaged in a weight-training
program in the offseason that paid off with 49 doubles, 10 triples, 23 home
runs, and 87 RBIs, his first All-Star selection, and a Silver Slugger in 1980. The
Brewers reached the postseason for the first time in the strike-interrupted
1981 season and “Rockin’ Robin” hit well down the stretch while batting .273
overall with 10 home runs and 49 RBIs. In the field he committed only 8 errors.
1982 Season Summary
Appeared in 156
games
SS – 154, DH – 1,
PH – 2
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 704 [8]
At Bats – 635
[4]
Runs – 129 [2]
Hits – 210 [1]
Doubles – 46 [1,
tied with Hal McRae]
Triples – 12 [3]
Home Runs – 29 [11]
RBI – 114 [4]
Bases on Balls
– 54
Int. BB – 2
Strikeouts – 63
Stolen Bases – 14
Caught Stealing
– 3
Average - .331
[2]
OBP - .379 [10]
Slugging Pct. -
.578 [1]
Total Bases – 367
[1]
GDP – 19 [10,
tied with Greg Luzinski & Willie Aikens]
Hit by Pitches
– 1
Sac Hits – 4
Sac Flies – 10 [2]
League-leading
hits were +5 ahead of runner-up Cecil Cooper
League-leading
slugging pct. was +.018 ahead of runner-up Dave Winfield
League-leading
total bases were +22 ahead of runner-up Cecil Cooper
Midseason
snapshot: HR - 15, RBI - 57, AVG - .327, SLG - .585
---
Most hits, game
– 5 (in 5 AB) vs. Boston 7/2
Longest hitting
streak – 13 games
HR at home – 9
HR on road – 20
Most home runs,
game – 2 on seven occasions
Multi-HR games
– 7
Most RBIs, game
– 6 vs. Baltimore 9/24
Pinch-hitting –
1 of 2 (.500) with 1 2B & 1 RBI
Fielding
Chances - 766
Put Outs – 253
Assists – 489
Errors – 24
DP – 95
Pct. - .969
Postseason
Batting: 12 G (ALCS vs. California – 5 G; World Series vs. St. Louis – 7 G)
PA – 52, AB – 45,
R – 7, H – 16, 2B – 3,3B – 0, HR – 1, RBI – 6, BB – 3, IBB – 1, SO – 4, SB – 0,
CS – 0, AVG - .356, OBP - .396, SLG -.489, TB – 22, GDP – 3, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF
– 0
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
MLB Player of
the Year: Sporting News
Gold Glove
Silver Slugger
All-Star (started
for AL at SS)
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Robin Yount,
Mil.: 385 pts. - 27 of 28 first place votes, 98% share
Eddie Murray,
Balt.: 228 pts. – 58% share
Doug DeCinces,
Cal.: 178 pts. – 45% share
Hal McRae, KC: 175
pts. – 45% share
Cecil Cooper,
Mil.: 152 pts. – 39% share
(1 first place
vote for Reggie Jackson, Cal., who ranked sixth)
---
Brewers went 95-67
to finish first in the AL Eastern Division by 1 game over the Baltimore Orioles,
while leading the league in runs scored (891), home runs (216), RBIs (843),
slugging (.455), and total bases (2606). The struggling Brewers came to life
after manager Buck Rodgers was replaced by Harvey Kuenn in June. “Harvey’s
Wallbangers” were primarily heralded for their hitting and went 72-43 the rest
of the way, surviving the loss of bullpen ace Rollie Fingers in the final month
and a surge by the Orioles, who they defeated in the season’s last game to
clinch the division title. Won ALCS over the California Angels, 3 games to 2.
Lost World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4 games to 3 despite Milwaukee’s
batting heroics.
Aftermath of ‘82:
Yount followed
up with another strong season in 1983, even though he was hampered by a back
injury while the Brewers dropped to fifth in the AL East. Bothered by a sore
shoulder in 1984, he finished the season as a Designated Hitter and hit .298
with 27 doubles, 7 triples, 16 home runs and 80 RBIs. Yount was shifted to the
outfield in 1985 and was limited to 122 games as his shoulder injury required
surgery. Still, he batted .277 with 15 home runs and 68 RBIs. Installed in
center field in 1986, the position he would play for the remainder of his
career, Yount hit .312 with 9 home runs and 46 RBIs while scoring a
team-leading 82 runs. He was better offensively in 1987, again batting .312
with 21 home runs and 103 RBIs. In 1988 Yount tied for the AL lead with 11
triples to go along with 38 doubles, 13 home runs, 91 RBIs, and a .306 average.
He placed eleventh in league MVP voting. He won his second MVP award in 1989 as
he batted .318 with 38 doubles, 9 triples, and 21 home runs with 103 RBIs.
Yount remained with the Brewers, his only major league team, until 1993, after
which he retired at age 38. For his 20-year career he batted .285 with 3142
hits that included 583 doubles, 126 triples, and 251 home runs. He further
accumulated 1406 RBIs and 271 stolen bases. The two-time AL MVP was also a
three-time All-Star who won a Gold Glove at shortstop and was awarded three
Silver Sluggers. The Brewers retired his #19 and he was inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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