Yelich a humble superstar leading talented Brewers
MILWAUKEE With every home run and big hit, it’s getting more difficult for Christian Yelich to go out in Milwaukee without being recognized.
It didn’t stop the potential National League MVP from making a run to the supermarket for groceries so his mother could make his favourite dish when she visited.
Taco night must go on for the Milwaukee Brewers’ all-star outfielder and his family.
“So actually, he went to the market and bought everything. I sent him a list, so when I got there it was all ready to go and I just had to cook,” said his mother, Alicia Yelich.
She said the increased attention isn’t going to her son’s head, even with a late-season push for the Triple Crown that fell just short.
The spotlight shone brighter Thursday during Yelich’s postseason debut when the Brewers played host to the Colorado Rockies in Game 1 of their National League Division Series.
The 26-year-old Yelich is known for his humility and steady demeanour, along with his talent at the plate. It’s a lesson handed down in the family.
“Ialwayssayyou’vegottostay humble in life, right? The game is so hard that you really don’t know how your night is going to be,” Alicia Yelich said.
“You can hit for the cycle or you get four (strikeouts). You’ve got to stay humble.”
Yelich, who homered in the third inning against the Rockies, has hit for the cycle twice this year, the first major-leaguer to do so in one season against the same team, the Cincinnati Reds.
Last week against Detroit, Yelich made the first curtain call of his career after hitting his second home run to break a tie in the seventh inning of a 6-5 win.
It was about as close as Yelich has come to showing emotion.
The fans at Miller Park chanted “MVP! MVP!” after the solo shot. He obliged with a brief appearance, lifting his helmet in the air about halfway up the dugout steps.
“Everyone was yelling at me to get up there, so I went up there really quick and went right back down,” he said.
Opponents are impressed by the demeanour, too. Rockies manager Bud Black got to talk to Yelich at the All- Star Game in July.
“You can’t engage with everybody, but I found time to engage with him,” Black said Wednesday. “And what a nice kid — I mean, really, really great to talk to, and really in a way humble and sort of shy, right?
“That’s sort of how I got it. But what a great kid. So, I’m very happy for him,” Black said.
Yelich hit an Nl-best .326 to become the Brewers’ first batting champion. He finished tied for third in home runs (36) and tied for second in RBIS (110).