This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy’s Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO – Christian Yelich learned a lot last year when he hosted his first annual “Home Plate Charity Concert” in Milwaukee, starting with this: Planning a big charity event isn’t as hard as hitting a Major League fastball, but it’s not far off, either.

“It’s something that’s easy to say, but then you find out that it’s a large undertaking,” said Yelich, who will host this year’s installment on Thursday at Milwaukee’s Pabst Theater. “It’s nice to have people around you who support you and help out. That’s what I found out: Giving back is a group effort. Everybody is donating their time and money and energy to this. The night of the event, it’s the culmination of everybody’s effort.”

Last year’s event brought in more than $300,000, the proceeds of which went to a number of local charities, including Milwaukee’s Beckum-Stapleton Little League. This year’s event is sponsored by American Family Insurance, and it will benefit the Brewers Community Foundation, Visit Milwaukee and Team Red White & Blue, a nonprofit dedicated to the mental and physical health of U.S. military veterans in Greater Milwaukee.

Most of Yelich’s Brewers teammates will be on hand this year and fans can attend, too. The show’s headliner is country singer and the 2011 "American Idol" winner Scotty McCreery, with more music from the Nicotine Dolls and Milwaukee’s DJ Shawna, comedy from Charlie Berens, food from local chef Adam Pawlak and appearances from former Brewer Ryan Braun and NFL Hall of Famer LeRoy Butler.

It began as an idea between Yelich and local restaurateur Omar Shaikh during their collaboration on the downtown 3rd Street Market Hall. Shaikh encouraged Yelich to follow his instincts if he wanted to host a big event of his own, and now it’s growing into an annual event.

“We’re trying to branch out into some different areas this year and help some people out,” Yelich said. “Last [year] was kind of like, 'Let’s see what it can be.' We didn’t really know. But it was a good time last year and it was pretty successful, so we decided we’d do it again."

“You know, sometimes you go to these events and they’re just alright. We wanted to make this one fun and something people really wanted to do.”

Yelich got a sense of how much his teammates enjoyed last year’s event when the sign-up for this year’s encore filled up so fast. Among the players expected to attend are veterans Rhys Hoskins and Wade Miley and relative newcomers Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, Joey Ortiz and Brice Turang.

Yelich has help from his mother, Alecia, and brother Collin, and many others, and downplayed his own contribution to planning. But Hoskins knows firsthand what goes into planning an event on this scale after his own experiences hosting charity nights for the Muscular Dystrophy Association while he played for the Phillies.

“One thing I learned so quickly is that it’s amazing how quickly people are eager to help make something like that happen,” Hoskins said. “I also learned that if you’ve got enough guys in the clubhouse who care, it’s a pretty easy street. When guys turn out and support you, it helps bring out the fans to help your community.

“I’m excited about this. It’s not often that we all get together away from the field. It’s just cool from a life perspective to deepen your relationships with teammates.”

Fans can be part of that. Tickets are still available.

“It takes a lot of work,” Yelich said. “It’s a lot of people working hard other than myself – I’m just a small part of it. But last year was a lot of fun, and that’s the whole goal of it.”