Q & A with Robin Yount

Baseball Digest, Sept, 2004 by Fred Mitchell

THE FIRST-BALLOT HALL OF FAMER TALKS ABOUT THE CHANGING BREED OF SHORTSTOPS AND THE NOW-RARE CIRcumstance of playing an entire career with one team.

Q: You played all 20 years of your Hall of Fame career with one team--the Milwaukee Brewers. In this era of free agency, do you think that ever will happen again?

A: I am certain it will happen again. Certainly not as often. There are a let of different ways that players will come to change teams these days.

Q: In spring 1978, there was talk of you quitting baseball at 22 and playing golf professionally. How serious was that?

A: It wasn't very serious for me. The media played that one up pretty good. I don't know many 5-handicappers who can make a living on the PGA Tour. That was a stretch. I don't even play much anymore. When I have free time now, I try to get on a stream somewhere and fly-fish these days,

Q: In 1982, you won the American League Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the first shortstop to lead the A.L. in slugging and total bases. Then in 1989, you won your second MVP, this time as a center fielder. How difficult was your transition?

A: It was a big adjustment because I had never been in the outfield a day in my life before the situation arose. It felt like a long way away from the action.... Initially, I didn't really care for the move. I had had shoulder surgery and wasn't able to throw at the time. So when I first went out (to center field), I was under the impression it was only a temporary thing. It just so happened that as time went on, it ended up being permanent.

Q: On September 9, 1992, you collected your 3,000th hit, a sharp single to right off Cleveland's Jose Mesa. It seems there are so many shortstops who hit for power nowadays. Is that one of the biggest advances in the game you have noticed?

A: Now you see, across the board, better all-around athletes (playing shortstop). You are finding guys able to be complete players. I remember the day when if a shortstop was able to catch the ball regularly, he was a major league player.

Q: At 18, you became the Brewers' regular shortstop, one of the youngest everyday players in history. Were there any big leaguers you tried to emulate?

A: When I was in high school, the hitter I enjoyed watching was Joe Rudi with the A's.

Q: You served as the bench coach for the Diamondbacks. Do you have any big league managerial aspirations?

A: Not at this point. I enjoyed this bench coaching.