Fan base boosting Yelich
Serbian-American community cheers on MVP candidate
MILWAUKEE — When Brewers slugger Christian Yelich took the field against the Dodgers, he had one group of Milwaukee fans rooting especially loud for his success: SerbianAmericans.
The 26-year-old MVP candidate’s banner year has earned him plenty of new fans, including Serbians who are just now becoming aware of his heritage. Yelich’s paternal grandfather was Serbian.
“Everybody is seriously super-stoked and really happy,” said Sinisa Torbica, 50, whose parents immigrated to Milwaukee from Serbia in the 1960s.
Torbica, who makes a living as a translator, said he long thought Yelich might be of Serbian descent but wasn’t sure because the Americanized spelling differs from the more usual Jelic surname. Torbica said it was “fricking awesome” when a friend told him about Yelich’s ancestry last year. His own friends, he said, feel the same.
“They’re just kind of like awestruck,” Torbica said. “They’re like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe it. He’s Serbian, are you kidding me? MVP?’ It’s unbelievable.”
Yelich said he has never visited Serbia or fully researched his heritage, but he feels “pride in it.”
“Any time you can have an impact on anybody’s life in a positive direction, to bring happiness to the community or a certain group of people, you don’t take that lightly as a team, as a player,” he said.
The Brewers acquired Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich, whose paternal grandfather was Serbian, says he takes “pride” in his heritage, G1: Dodgers at Brewers, late G2: Dodgers (Ryu) at Brewers (Miley) 4:09 p.m. Saturday, FOX G3: Brewers (Chacin) at Dodgers (Buehler) 7:39 p.m. Monday, FS1 G4: Brewers at Dodgers 9:09 p.m. Tuesday, FS1 G5: Brewers at Dodgers 5:05 p.m. Wednesday, FS1 G6: Dodgers at Brewers 8:39 p.m. Oct. 19, FS1 G7: Dodgers at Brewers 9:09 p.m. Oct. 20, FS1 Games 5-7 if necessary Yelich from the Marlins in a trade during offseason and he went on to win the National League batting title with a .326 average. He hit 36 home runs and had 110 RBIs, just missing the Triple Crown — a rare feat l ast accomplished by Miguel Cabrera for the Tigers in 2012.
Now, Yelich is a topic of conversation among Milwaukee’s small, tight-knit Serbian community that likes cheering for athletes who have a connection to home, said Steve Petrovic, the president of the American Serb Hall on the city’s southwest side. Petrovic said it’s the same adulation Serbians feel for athletes like tennis superstar Novak Djokovic and retired NBA player Vlade Divac.
“When you’re within the Serbian community, that kind of stuff is talked about — ‘Did you see Yelich the other night?’ ” Petrovic said. “That is very commonplace.”
Serbians’ migration to Milwaukee began in the late 1800s, driven by poverty and overpopulation in Eastern Europe, said John Gurda, a Milwaukee historian and author.
Another wave began arriving in the 1980s during the wars in Sarajevo and the Bosnian conflict.