MILWAUKEE – When Christian Yelich learned that the Brewers intended to take the unprecedented step of stitching a “C” on his jersey while naming him team captain, he had only one condition.
“He had one request that we ask Robin Yount before we do such a thing, and Robin agreed wholeheartedly,” manager Pat Murphy said. “Because in Yeli’s mind, Robin is the first captain.”
But Yount, though a Hall of Famer and the greatest player in Brewers history by every conceivable measure, never had his status as team leader recognized in the same way Yelich did beginning on Saturday night against the Cardinals at American Family Field, when he was formally named captain of MLB’s winningest team.
Brewers players held a team meeting just prior to the penultimate game of their record-setting regular season to make it official. The move made the 34-year-old one of only three active players in the Major Leagues with the title of captain, joining the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and the Royals’ Salvador Perez.
It only solidified what has long been known. Yelich is so universally regarded as the Brewers’ captain that some of his teammates refer to him as "Cap." The only other player in team history addressed that way was “Captain Sal” Bando, who was captain of the A’s in the 1970s before he signed with the Brewers as Milwaukee’s first free agent ahead of the 1977 season and reluctantly accepted the same honorific with his new team. Bando wore the title quietly at the time; MLB had yet to allow teams to stitch a “C” on jerseys to reflect the honor.
Just as Bando’s arrival coincided with the Brewers’ rise from expansion team to contender, Yelich has been a central figure in what has been the longest stretch of regular season success in Brewers history, acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Marlins on the same day in January 2018 that the Brewers signed free agent outfielder Lorenzo Cain. The duo, with rookie pitchers Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta, helped take the Brewers to a National League Central title that season – and they haven’t stopped winning since.
Flash forward to 2026, and the Brewers have made the postseason in eight of the last nine seasons -- with six division titles, including the last four in a row.
Yelich was the NL MVP Award winner in 2018 and finished runner-up in ‘19, then signed a club-record contract extension the following spring that essentially made him a Brewer for life. He’s shifted to designated hitter duty in recent years and has remained productive, making his third All-Star team in 2024 and then hitting 29 home runs with 103 RBIs in 2025.
His 2026 season has not gone to plan. Yelich entered Saturday night with a .697 OPS and 0.2 bWAR. So his teammates decided to show what he still means to the club.
“It’s been happening since he’s been in this uniform, in his own genuine, authentic way,” Murphy said. “He has just led people in his own way. It’s great to see it [acknowledged]. Everybody knows he’s our captain, Anybody that’s played with him recognizes the way he upholds the standards of winning and the standards of how we conduct ourselves. It came time that I thought it was a great idea to recognize him officially.”