Christian Yelich and his Miami Marlins teammates made history Sunday night, winning the first regular-season game on an active U.S. military base. However, the 5-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves didn't mean nearly as much as playing in front of service members at Fort Bragg during Fourth of July weekend.
There is one service member that Yelich did not play in front of Sunday night: his brother Cameron, who is in the Marines.
Cameron has been stationed overseas and is currently home on leave in California.
"He's going to watch on TV," Yelich told MLB.com prior to the game, also noting that he supported his brother's decision to serve in the military out of high school. "I'm proud of his decision, and that's a tough commitment. I feel like the people who serve for our country are the best our nation has to offer."
Yelich's journey from Thousand Oaks, California to Miami, Florida was not a short one, but landing in Fort Bragg to play a historic game made it all worthwhile.
Yelich, being from the same part of California as Angels' manager Mike Scioscia, attended Scoscia's local camps when he was eight years old, which is when he first knew he wanted to play professional baseball.
Yet he never made any of the All-American teams that played on Major League fields, and he was cut from Team USA. His first game on a Major League field was during the 2013 Futures Game played at Citi Field.
Resilience runs in the family, and Yelich was picked 23rd overall in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of Westlake High School. When the Marlins played at the Angels in 2014, Yelich was sure to remind Scioscia that he attended Scoscia's camps when he was younger.
Now in his fourth season, Yelich has gone from another player in the minor leagues to a Gold Glove Award winner.
Despite Yelich and Cameron moving in separate directions after high school, they stay in contact as much as they can via text message, even if their communication is sporadic.
"He sent me a video of me striking out the other night, so he watched the game somewhere," Yelich said.
Yelich tied his season high with three hits during Sunday's game. He might soon forget his stat line, but never the memory of playing in front of the service members of Fort Bragg.
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More from #MLBPlayers411:

• He mostly watches TV in the offseason, and his favorite shows are "Breaking Bad," "Dexter," and "Game of Thrones."
• Yelich has a variety of music on his phone. "Rap, country, Taylor Swift, you name it; it's on there," he said.
• His favorite player growing up was Derek Jeter, whom he met at a Spring Training game. "It was a cool experience," Yelich said. "It was a special moment in baseball for me."
• Yelich's favorite movie is "Gladiator."
• Yelich can be found on Twitter and Instagram @ChristianYelich.