Editor's note: Robin Yount will chat with OnMilwaukee.com readers in a live blog tonight beginning at 7 p.m. (details below)

Brewers legend Robin Yount dropped by the OnMilwaukee.com offices earlier this summer to discuss Robinade and a variety of other topics, including his devotion to the Brewers, the reason he's not coaching anymore and the evolving relationship between players and fans. Enjoy this Milwaukee Talks interview with Robin Yount.

OnMilwaukee.com: What have you been up to lately?

Robin Yount: I've been keeping pretty busy, mostly trying to sell some Robinade!

OMC: How has that been going?

RY: It's been going pretty well. We added another flavor this year (Old School Limeade) and that's been going well. We're doing some things with the Web site (robinade.org) and selling some licensed merchandise. The biggest thing is making people aware that it's available. It's a competitive marketplace, so it's a process. We're getting into more stores, which is good. We're going to be going into some schools, too, which will help.

The biggest thing for me is that it's a chance to stay connected with people in Milwaukee and Wisconsin and a chance to raise some money for the MACC (Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer) Fund, too.

OMC: The MACC Fund has a long history in town. You were in town when it started and took part in a lot of their events. Is that history what prompted you to use Robinade to raise money for the organization?

RY: We were involved when it started. I think I was around when they had their first golf tournament. They used to try to schedule it for a day off and about 90 percent of the players would show up. So, we were around at the very beginning.

Obviously, when it comes to charitable stuff, the kids are always first in my attention span. I want to go there first when I can help charities out, so I have chosen the MACC Fund for now. I would love to someday see this grow to where it was really significant and I can help others. I love the MACC Fund obviously, Make a Wish and Ronald McDonald House. I was at the Ronald McDonald House opening here, whenever that was. Those are my three (charities) that I am associated with.

OMC: You're obviously associated with the Brewers, too. You still follow the team pretty closely, don't you?

RY: Oh yeah, I listen to them on satellite radio now. I was here that long; its not that I have forgotten about baseball. If I am going to cheer for a team, it is not hard to choose which one. I still have a lot of friends here in that dugout. The one year I was here full-time, a number of those guys are still there. I have a good relationship, and I feel close to a lot of those players, and I want to know how they are doing.

OMC: How often do you get to Milwaukee?

RY: I am in and out. We try to get here about once a month, at least during the baseball season.

OMC: I assume the people treat you like you never left.

RY: That is why I keep coming back. I have always felt that the people here have been so nice to me. I am trying, I don't want to say, "giving back," but they have been so good to me that I want to stay in touch with them. I guess that is a better way of putting it. I enjoy the people here; I always have. Like I said, they were so good to me throughout my career that I have just enjoyed it back here.

OMC: Being a Hall of Famer puts you in a pretty select group, but you're in an even smaller group of guys that played for only one team. Now that you and Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken and Jim Rice have gone in, some people feel that one-team guys will become more rare. What do you think about that?

RY: That is a product of the system today. There are many, many reasons for movement today that we didn't have years ago. I would like to believe, in certain cases, it is still going to happen. I would certainly hope that Derek Jeter is going to retire a Yankee, but you never know in today's system. But there are going to be a few of these guys that still do, but the system is so different. The finances for players and organizations free up all these different things that cause issues. Certain organizations and small-market teams may want to keep people, but unfortunately the numbers do not work and they have to let them go for whatever. It is so easy to move nowadays and so acceptable.

OMC: Free agency has made a lot of players rich, but don't you think that something has been lost in this era of movement? It seems like players don't bond with fans the way they used to.

RY: There is no question. I don't think the city either gets to develop that relationship with their guys. That core group we had from about '78 to '85 or so, we had the same basic core for seven or eight years that it would be rare in today's game for most teams. That is so rare today because of the movement. Even in the clubhouse today, you see it. You don't see nearly the camaraderie in the clubhouses today, and we have one of the best ones today.

It is not the same as it was, and that is all related to the movement. The guys are not together long enough to develop that real bond. You have four or five guys together over here that like to have fun together, and these six over here like to have fun. But that 25 guys all on the same page doing the same thing off the field, you don't see anymore.

OMC: The player-fan relationship has changed, hasn't it? In the late 1970s and early '80s, some Brewers players used to stop at tailgate parties on the way home. Now, the players park in a parking lot that is off-limits to fans. Whether it's because of the salaries or the times we're in, there seems to be more of a wall between players and fans.

RY: We could get away with a lot more than they can today. In a way I feel sorry for the guys today. They can still have the camaraderie and the fun amongst themselves, but there is no way they can get away with some of the stuff we did off the field without camera phones or front-page headlines all over the country. They just couldn't do it.

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3 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by upofan on Aug. 12, 2009 at 3:56 p.m. (report)

Weird last comment. Watch out Randolph!

Posted by WestSideWillie on Aug. 12, 2009 at 11:42 a.m. (report)

Fire sale going on---Bill Hall DFA'd. Maybe some Robinade will put out the fire at Miller Park. Who's next, Doug Melvin and Mark A will slide into the GM's seat, he who brought us Eric Gagne? Stick to being a cheerleader Mark and leave the baseball moves to professionals.

Posted by WestSideWillie on Aug. 12, 2009 at 11:22 a.m. (report)

Let's see----Robin Yount in town, Brewers struggling, Castro fired, JJ to AAA, could Robin Yount be the new Brewers Manager by the end of the day? Is Ken Macha calling U-Haul for his personal belongings, not the pitching staff? Is Drew Olson so ahead of this with his #19 interview? Take the 19 out of retirement----and on the manager's back. When all else fails, recycle 1982 Hall Of Famers.