Robin Yount (1999)


Date of Birth: 9/16/1955
Birthplace: Danville, Illinois

Robin Yount, who played his entire major league career with the Milwaukee Brewers, won two American League MVP awards, three Silver Slugger awards, and one Gold Glove. He also won the Baseball Digest Player of the Year and the Sporting News Player of the Year awards.

Milwaukee Brewers

Yount was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1973 and one year later, after playing in just 64 games in the minors, he was their full-time shortstop. In his first season in the major leagues, he was not impressive, batting just .250 with 86 hits and 14 doubles in 107 games in 1974. He played a full season in 1975, finishing with 149 hits, 28 doubles, 52 RBIs, and a .267 batting average in 147 games.

Yount struggled offensively in 1976, batting just .252 with 161 hits, 19 doubles, 16 stolen bases, and 54 RBIs in 161 games. However, his defense was good, and he led all AL shortstops in putouts with 290 and double plays turned with 104.

Yount played well from 1977 to 1979, but he was not yet showing his Hall of Fame skills. He had 174 hits, 34 doubles, and a .288 batting average in 1977. His batting average went up to .293 in 1978. He had an average season in 1979, finishing with 154 hits, 26 doubles, 51 RBIs, and a .267 batting average in 149 games.

Yount led the AL in doubles and won his first Silver Slugger award in 1980. He finished the season with 179 hits, a career high 49 doubles, 10 triples, 23 home runs, 20 stolen bases, 87 RBIs, and a .293 batting average in 143 games. In the strike shortened 1981 season, he batted .273 with 103 hits in 96 games.

Yount had his best season in 1982, with career highs in hits, triples, home runs, RBIs, and batting average. He batted .331 with 210 hits, 46 doubles, 12 triples, 29 home runs, and 114 RBIs in 156 games. He led the AL in hits, doubles, and OPS (.957). He won his first AL MVP award, his second Silver Slugger award, the Baseball Digest Player of the Year award, and the Sporting News Player of the Year award in 1982. He also won his only Gold Glove that year.

In 1983, Yount led the AL in triples with 10. He finished the season with 178 hits, 42 doubles, 17 home runs, 80 RBIs, and a .308 batting average in 149 games. He walked 72 times while striking out only 58 times. It was the only season in which he had more walks than strikeouts.

Yount had another strong season in 1984, batting .298 in 160 games. He had 186 hits, 27 doubles, and 80 RBIs. He had shoulder issues in 1985, and he was moved to the outfield to alleviate the problems. He batted .277 in 122 games that year. In both 1987 and 1988, he batted .312. He had 163 hits, 31 doubles, and 46 RBIs in 140 games in 1986, and 198 hits, 24 doubles, 21 home runs, and 103 RBIs in 158 games in 1987.

Yount again led the AL in triples in 1988. He finished the season with 190 hits, 38 doubles, 11 triples, 13 home runs, a career high 22 stolen bases, 91 RBIs, and a .306 batting average in a career high 162 games. He walked 63 times and struck out the same number of times.

Yount won his second MVP award and his third and last Silver Slugger award in 1989. That season he batted .318 with 195 hits, 38 doubles, 21 home runs, and 103 RBIs in 160 games. It would be his last good season. From 1990 though 1993, his highest batting average was .264.

Awards and MLB Records

  • AL MVP (2 times)
  • Sporting News Player of the Year
  • Baseball Digest Player of the Year
  • Silver Slugger award (3 times)
  • Gold Glove (1 time)
  • Led the AL in doubles (2 times)
  • Led the AL in triples (2 times)

Career Statistics

Statistics for Yount in 20 seasons (1974-1993) in the major leagues include:

  • 11 seasons with over 150 hits, with a high of 210 in 1982
  • 8 seasons with over 30 doubles, with a high of 49 in 1980
  • 4 seasons with 10 or more triples, with a high of 12 in 1982
  • 4 seasons with over 20 home runs, with a high of 29 in 1982
  • 3 seasons with over 100 RBIs, with a high of 114 in 1982
  • 6 seasons with a batting average over .300, with a high of .331 in 1982

Career batting statistics for Yount include:

  • 3,142 hits
  • 583 doubles
  • 126 triples
  • 251 home runs
  • 1,406 RBIs
  • 271 stolen bases
  • 1,350 strikeouts to 966 walks
  • .285 batting average
  • .342 on-base percentage
  • .772 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Yount as a shortstop include:

  • 1,479 games played
  • 4,794 assists
  • 941 double plays
  • 2,588 putouts
  • 272 errors
  • .964 fielding percentage

Career fielding statistics for Yount as an outfielder include:

  • 1,218 games played
  • 3,202 putouts
  • 32 errors
  • .990 fielding percentage

Post Playing Career

Yount retired as a player after the 1993 season. Almost 10 years later, he returned to major league baseball as a coach, first for the Arizona Diamondbacks (2002-2004) and then for his former team, the Brewers (2005-2006).

Yount was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999 on the first ballot with 77.5% of the vote.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Robin Yount
ESPN - Robin Yount
Baseball Reference - Robin Yount

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