Christian Yelich, with tears in his eyes, experienced the harsh elimination of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2024 MLB postseason. Pete Alonso, first baseman for the New York Mets, hit in the ninth inning of the third game of the wild card series, sealed the team’s fate.
Yelich’s emotion wasn’t limited to the defeat. The connection with the legendary Milwaukee commentator, Bob Uecker, was the trigger. A relationship forged by years of mutual respect, made Yelich the face of the Brewers.
An MVP season in 2018, followed by an extensive contract extension, cemented Yelich as Milwaukee’s leading figure, after Uecker.
Yelich unites the evolution of our franchise, from Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, and Rickie Weeks to Christian Yelich. I think he is someone who has seen a lot in his life.
Matt Arnold, General Manager
The passing of Uecker in January, at the age of 90, deeply impacted Yelich. Although he sensed that the playoff defeat could be Uecker’s last moment, he didn’t know it would be his farewell from American Family Field and the last season shared with the person who taught him so much.
I think his greatest gift was being authentically himself. This is Bob Uecker. He genuinely cares about how you’re doing. A young player gets called up for the first time, he knows everything about him, the first time he meets him, but he knows what school he went to, where he’s from. What he’s all about. I tried to learn from that.
Christian Yelich
Yelich met Uecker a few days after being transferred from Miami to Milwaukee in January 2018. The Brewers’ management sent a plane to pick up their new star outfielder, on which Uecker and Hall of Famer Robin Yount traveled. From that day on, both maintained a close relationship, sharing in the office, the dugout, and the batting cage, often with the Brewers’ managers, Pat Murphy and previously Craig Counsell.
Ueck was always first. That’s how it works. Everyone wanted it that way. Even the best player. He wanted it that way.
Craig Counsell
After all, it was Uecker, with more than 50 years in the game and the countless stories that come with that experience. Yelich listened and learned.
It was the way he connected with people. When you talked to Ueck, whether he knew who you were or not, you would feel like he’d known you for a long time and that you were great friends. I’ve tried to do that with our players as well.
Christian Yelich
On Opening Day this year, Yelich honored Uecker by wearing a checkered suit at the New York stadium. Afterwards, when the Brewers commemorated their iconic commentator before the home opener, everyone looked at Yelich, trusting that Milwaukee’s MVP would lead the way as the face of the franchise.
Yelich, although far from his MVP-level seasons, began to regain his form with an OPS of .909 in his first 73 games of last season. He was on pace for a career high in stolen bases before back problems cut his year short. It was devastating. The Brewers were contenders, but they would have to play without their leader.It was an important part of that celebration for Uecker. He was probably more nervous than when stepping onto a baseball field.
Rhys Hoskins
Despite missing the last two months in the field, Yelich was present cheering on his teammates every step of the way for Milwaukee’s march to a third NL Central title in four years.
That type of leadership doesn’t surprise his former manager Counsell, who said: “Often, when difficult things happen, it’s your responsibility. That’s Yelich.”
Despite being fully recovered this season, Yelich’s performance at the plate has been slow; his current OPS of .644 would be the lowest of his career for a full season.
It took a while to get back to playing at the Major League level and feeling things coming off of surgery. But I feel good.
Christian Yelich
Like Yelich, the entire Brewers team is struggling so far this season. They have been shut out six times and, combined with a myriad of pitching injuries, Milwaukee is in fourth place. The Brewers haven’t finished so low in the division in a decade and will need their leaders more than ever to get back in the race.
Those around Yelich are confident that he will find his form again, recalling what Yelich’s experience was like at his best: In 2018 and 2019, he led the league in batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS. It was then that his career reached another level and the Brewers began a streak of reaching the postseason in seven of the next eight years.
I remember the second half of 2018. It changed, but he didn’t change. That’s very difficult to do. Everything off the field changes, but he stayed true to himself.
Craig Counsell
When asked about his favorite memory of Yelich, Arnold quickly recalled a game in St. Louis, in late 2018. The Cardinals intentionally walked Lorenzo Cain to get to Yelich, who promptly hit a game-changing three-run homer against lefty Brett Cecil.
Nobody could believe they were throwing around someone to get to Yelich. I remember Cain laughing, like, ‘What the hell are they doing?’
Matt Arnold
Right-handed pitcher Colin Rea used to see Yelich as a teammate, but now has to face him as a member of the Chicago Cubs. He tried to explain Yelich’s greatness: “The way the ball comes off his bat. It’s different. It’s like a golf swing where you barely try and it goes really far. There’s something about the point of contact.”
As Yelich tries to get back to that version of himself, he reflected on his time in Milwaukee, calling it the “right place” for him. He could have tested free agency, but he chose to make one of the game’s smallest markets his home when he signed an extension before the 2020 season, keeping him in Milwaukee through 2028, knowing that every year would be a struggle for his team to compete.
Yes, of course, I’ve wondered what it would be like to play in a big market and have that experience, but it just didn’t play out that way for my career. And I liked it here. I wanted to be here. Obviously, they wanted me here too, and I think it’s a great place to play baseball.
Christian Yelich
Milwaukee will never be among the league leaders in payroll. After climbing to 18th in that department last season, and then winning the division by 10 games, the Brewers fell to 23rd this year. Their offseason moves were almost nonexistent, aside from the signing of 36-year-old starter José Quintana for $4 million late in the winter.
The year-over-year trend of low payrolls with high win totals has been the norm throughout Yelich’s career, first in Miami and the last seven seasons in Milwaukee. Despite the challenges that come with trying to do more with less, the Brewers continue to compete year after year, and that comes from a clubhouse full of players focused on the only thing under their control: playing the game the right way to win.
You’re in an underdog role every year, so you have to make up for it in other areas. You can’t just go toe-to-toe with the Dodgers or the Yankees or the Cubs. You’re just not going to do it, so you have to find advantages or closeness with your team and you have to do things differently.
Christian Yelich
Prioritizing speed and defense is one way the Brewers have found they can make up for gaps with teams they can’t outspend or outhit. Milwaukee ranked second in stolen bases last season and ranks first in that category this year. The Brewers have stolen more bases than any other National League team since Yelich arrived in 2018.
But his glove work has dipped a bit during the first six weeks of this season, and his record has reflected that, leading Murphy to remind his team how the game is supposed to be played. Yelich, despite making a costly error in San Francisco last month, has been front and center backing his manager.
He knows the things that matter to me, he supports me. It’s essential to have that pillar.
Pat Murphy
After his arrival in Milwaukee and his rise to one of the best players in the game, Yelich quickly understood that the “Brewers Way” was the path to success. When the best player on a team plays the game the right way, others take notice.
When you’re young, when you see an older guy getting proud of those things, the alarms go off.
Sal Frelick
It’s not about telling the boys what they’re supposed to do. It’s about showing them what they’re supposed to do.
Pat Murphy
Others who have played with Yelich say he will choose the right moment to say something to the rest of them.
During team meetings, he will speak. Everyone tends to listen to what he has to say. He is totally involved in his career. That is his total focus: ‘This is how you’re supposed to play the game. You shouldn’t play it any other way.’
Colin Rea
Hoskins said Yelich has a “sense” of what the moment needs, like a good manager. The outfielder quickly understood that his role had expanded when he signed his nine-year, $215 million contract before the 2020 season.
When you take the money, there’s a certain responsibility you have not only to perform, but it goes beyond performance. I think for me it’s you still have to impact people and you have to do right by the organization. You can’t just take the money and stop, whether you’re playing well or not.
Christian Yelich
Brice Turang, only 18 years old in 2018, began his professional career in the lowest levels of the minor leagues after being drafted in the first round by Milwaukee that year. At the same time, Yelich was at the top of his sport, winning the NL MVP in his first year in Milwaukee and finishing second the following year. But the Brewers’ star still found time to communicate with one of the franchise’s top prospects.
He would text me in the minor leagues just to see how I was doing. I couldn’t believe it. He was texting me when I was 18 or 19. The year he won MVP, he was checking in all the time.
Brice Turang
Now that he was the experienced Major League player with a secure place in the locker room, he was applying the lessons that had been etched in his mind from the beginning of his career, which he was taught when he was still in Miami.
When Yelich was a highly touted prospect trying to secure his place with the Marlins in 2013, veteran catcher Jeff Mathis played a crucial role in making him feel like he belonged.
He just took us under his wing and talked to us about the game and what it takes to prepare in the big leagues, to be big leaguers, how to carry yourself and what it means to be a professional, and I’m very thankful for that. I’m trying to do that here as well.
Christian Yelich
Twelve years later, Mathis remembers Yelich as a player very “receptive” to instructions, calling his former teammate “a great person”.
As I got older, the younger players feel like they have it all figured out. He stood out as someone who was willing to listen. Not just to benefit himself, but everyone around him.
Jeff Mathis
Now that Yelich is on the other side of those moments, he has found that letting interactions happen naturally can have more impact than standing up and giving a pep talk in front of the locker room. It’s the same approach to cultivating connections that made Uecker a Milwaukee icon for so many years.
I don’t force it by trying to help those guys. It’s more like, be a friend first and build relationships with people and you’re welcoming and you introduce yourself and you talk to them about whatever, their life or joke about what’s going on in the world: ‘What’s up, man? Where are you from? How did you get here? What’s your story? Is everything good? Do you need anything? Do you have any questions?’
Christian Yelich
Almost every young prospect in the Brewers’ clubhouse has their own story about Yelich’s impact. Frelick is another who listened to Yelich while still in the minors.
You’ll be here soon. Let’s get ahead of that, teach what the routine is, teach what it’s like to be a Major League player.
Christian Yelich
I will be eternally grateful for that.
Sal Frelick
Of all the young players who have followed Yelich’s advice, few could have needed it more than outfielder Jackson Chourio, who debuted with the team last season at the age of 20.
Knows the opportune moments to say something. Knows when the time is right. Has a good sense of that.
Jackson Chourio
We had a long conversation about what a long season was. He told me to relax and play my game. He took some pressure off me.
Jackson Chourio
Chourio finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting and made his older teammate proud with his quick adaptation to life in the majors.
Whether it’s from an encouraging text message to a minor league player or words of wisdom to a young major league teammate, the lessons Yelich learned from his own mentors, from Mathis to Uecker, have made him the clear face of the franchise with an impact that goes far beyond his statistics.
You want to leave any place you’re in better than when you arrived. And for me it’s just, it’s the right thing to do to help these kids, and if you want to be on a good team, you have to play a certain way. For us, you’re going to trust young players, and with young players there are growing pains.
Christian Yelich
Turang added: “He’s someone I can go to for anything.”
