The former National League MVP accepted the Milwaukee Brewers' historic honor on one condition.
To say it's been a roller coaster year for Milwaukee Brewers' star Christian Yelich would be an understatement.
Staying healthy is the name of the game, especially for someone with as many back problems as Yelich.
The former National League MVP, someone who arguably should have two MVP awards under his belt, was recently named the first-ever captain in the history of the Brewers organization.
Time and time again, manager Pat Murphy has discussed how much Yelich means to this team, and Yelich is now forever honored with the "C' stitched on his jersey.
The team made this move with just a few games left in the regular season, and Yelich accepted, but only on one condition.
Yelich needed Robin Yount's approval
One of, if not the, greatest players in Brewers history is the legendary Robin Yount.
If Yelich was going to be named captain, he made it crystal clear to Murphy and the rest of the team he'd only do it if Yount approved.
"In Yeli's mind, Robin is the first captain," Murphy said, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
To no surprise, Yount was on board. He agreed "wholeheartedly," according to Murphy, who is well on his way to being named to his third consecutive NL Manager of the Year award.
Yelich chimed in, "Without his blessing, I wouldn’t have wanted to accept it. It would have felt weird to me.”
Yount, 71, was a three-time All-Star and two-time American League MVP. He was a first-ballot Baseball Hall of Fame inductee in 1999, and is on the Brewers Wall of Honor, American Family Field Walk of Fame, and has his No. 19 retired by the organization.
Remember, Yount hit .414 in the 1982 World Series. To this day, it remains the only time a Brewers team made the World Series. Even with a pair of four-hit games in the series, Yount's efforts still weren't enough as the St. Louis Cardinals won in seven games.
Yelich's time to shine
While it doesn't seem likely that Yelich is going to be able to mirror a .400+ batting average should the Brewers make it to their first World Series in 44 years, this team still has a ton of confidence in the 34-year-old.
Yelich may only be hitting .235 this season, but he's still come up with a few timely hits this year.
His 12 home runs are way down from the 29 he hit last season, but it's important to remember that Yelich hit .500 during his two postseason games in 2023.
Deep inside, the former MVP still lives in Yelich; it just comes down to whether or not he can get back to that version of himself for the 2026 playoffs.
