Yount was Mr. Dependable for 20 seasons

June 15th, 2020

You could set clocks and watches by 's performance. The man was that steady.

Yount's consistency throughout his 20 years with the Milwaukee Brewers was matchless. He batted .285 against right-handers and .286 off lefties; .288 in home games and .283 on the road; and .289 in the season's first half and .281 after the All-Star break. Furthermore, at the primary positions he played -- shortstop and center field -- he hit .284 and .287, respectively.

But Yount's significance exceeded statistics, as demonstrated by this list of top 10 moments culled from his Hall of Fame career.

1. Fountain of youth
April 5, 1974

Yount, the third overall selection in the previous year's Draft, impressed observers by making his Major League debut on this date after playing only 64 games in the Minors in 1973. He was 18 years and 201 days old when he started at shortstop and batted ninth for the Brewers, going 0-for-1 with a walk in their season-opening, 9-8 loss to Boston.

2. Once more, with feeling
Sept. 28, 2000

Yount enlivened the grand sendoff to Milwaukee County Stadium, which was replaced in 2001 by Miller Park, by scooting around the ballpark on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. In 1,438 games at County Stadium, Yount hit .288 with 124 home runs and 721 RBIs.

3. Pair of fours
Oct. 12 and 17, 1982

Yount became the first player to record a pair of four-hit games in the same Series when he got hot against the St. Louis Cardinals, who captured that Fall Classic in seven games. Yount hit .414 (12-for-29) against St. Louis, swelling his overall postseason average to .344 in 17 games.

4. Putting the "1" in 162
Oct. 3, 1982

Milwaukee and Baltimore shared the American League East lead with 94-67 records entering the regular season's final day when they faced each other in a compelling showdown. Yount dissolved the drama by homering in each of his first two at-bats off Orioles ace Jim Palmer to lead Milwaukee to a 10-2 win and a place in the AL Championship Series against the California Angels.

5. Staying up the middle
1984-85

After anchoring the Brewers' infield as their shortstop from 1974-84, Yount developed shoulder trouble that forced him to move to the outfield. He played mostly left field in 1985, starting 69 games there and 39 in center field before he switched almost exclusively to center in 1986.

6. MVP I
1982

Yount dominated the AL's Most Valuable Player balloting, accurately reflecting his regular-season performance. He led the Majors with 210 hits, 46 doubles, a .578 slugging percentage, a .957 OPS and 367 total bases.

7. MVP II
1989

Yount repeated as MVP in 1989, but this election proved to be more challenging than his triumph in '82. He finished with 256 points and eight first-place votes, edging Texas' Ruben Sierra (228 points, six first-place votes), Baltimore's Cal Ripken Jr., (216 points, six first-place votes) and Toronto's George Bell (205 points, four first-place votes).

8. It all adds up
1980-89

Yount led the Major Leagues with 1,731 hits during the 1980s. He amassed at least 178 hits in seven different seasons during that span, ranking among the league's top 10 seven times. Yount's big decade helped him reach the 3,000-hit plateau on Sept. 9, 1992, when he struck his milestone hit, a seventh-inning single off Cleveland's Jose Mesa. A week short of his 37th birthday, Yount was the third-youngest player to collect 3,000 hits, behind Hank Aaron and Ty Cobb.

9. Consequential catch
April 15, 1987

Yount preserved Juan Nieves' bid to throw the first no-hitter in Brewers history by racing into the right-center-field gap for a drive hit by Baltimore's Eddie Murray and flinging himself toward the ball to make the catch. Yount made the play with two outs in the ninth inning, sealing Nieves' 7-0 triumph.

10. Ticket to Cooperstown
1999

Yount was a first-ballot selection for baseball's shrine, joining "classmates" Nolan Ryan and George Brett as co-enshrinees. Yount needed 373 votes for induction and received 385.