MILWAUKEE -- Ned Yost, a bit player in the Milwaukee Brewers' glory days, has assumed the leading role in the club's quest to return to respectability.
"I've been waiting to put this on for a while," Yost said as he put on a Brewers uniform Tuesday, returning to the team where he was a backup catcher in the 1980s.
"Great fit."
Yost replaces Jerry Royster, who was fired after the Brewers finished a franchise-worst 56-106 last season. Royster took over from Davey Lopes in April.
Yost spent the last 11 seasons on Bobby Cox's coaching staff in Atlanta. He played in 219 games for Milwaukee, Texas and Montreal, the majority of them for the Brewers in 1980-83.
"I've been sitting in my office the last couple of days looking at the old team pictures that we had from '80, '81 and '82 and Harvey Kuenn and Buck Rodgers and George Bamberger," Yost said. "And to think that I'm going to be able to come back and be able to manage the Milwaukee Brewers, it's just like being a 4-year-old at Christmastime."
Yost agreed to a two-year contract that includes a club option for 2005.
"It's somewhat of a test to see how badly a guy wants a job," general manager Doug Melvin said in explaining his reluctance to offer a straight three-year deal.
Yost didn't hesitate. He got Melvin's offer on his e-mail Sunday, printed it, signed it and sent it back. It was sitting in Melvin's fax machine when he got into his office Monday.
"I have to prove myself. What I was looking for was the opportunity. If he would have offered me a one-year contract I probably would have said yes," Yost said. "The two-year contract didn't bother me in the least. If I do what I think I'm capable of doing, two years is going to turn into five or six."
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| Ned Yost was obviously well liked in Atlanta.(AP) |
Although Melvin's first choice for the job was Ken Macha, who was hired as Oakland's manager on Tuesday, Yost's solid first impression moved him ahead of the other candidates: Brewers bench coach Cecil Cooper, Arizona bench coach Bob Melvin and Yankees third base coach Willie Randolph.
"He said he went to bed the night I called him and said, 'How do I make the Milwaukee Brewers better even if we don't change any of the personnel?' And what that indicated to me was I've got an individual who is focused on what he has and not focusing on what he doesn't have," Melvin said.
"He came in here and basically won the job with his enthusiasm."
Yost said that will spread throughout the clubhouse.
"Passion and enthusiasm are a lot like catching a cold," he said.
The 47-year-old Yost has been the Braves' third-base coach the last four seasons and said working for Cox groomed him to become a manager.
"It's just 11 years of watching that (patience and positivity) and being around him," Yost said. "As excited as I was to come here and manage this club, a little bit of me was sad because I had to leave Bobby. But I told Bobby, 'You've taught me well and you've prepared me and it's time for me to leave the nest.'
"I don't have much experience managing, but I've been around a Hall of Fame manager for 11 years. I've been on the offensive side for four years with Bobby, thinking pitch-by-pitch with him. I got to where I knew exactly what he was going to do."
Melvin said he's not expecting perfection.
"No matter what profession you're in, you'll make mistakes when you get that first opportunity," Melvin said. "I'll sacrifice a mistake here and there for the work ethic and all the other qualities that he brings because I know with time that we all get better with experience."
Yost was a backup catcher on the 1982 Milwaukee team that won the AL pennant, which he helped win with a pinch-hit homer with a borrowed bat at Boston in the season's final week.
He said he cherishes the chance to try to turn around the Brewers, who haven't been to the playoffs since losing to St. Louis in the '82 World Series and haven't had a winning record in 10 years.
Yost batted .212 with 16 career homers over six major league seasons. His only experience as a manager was with Atlanta's Class-A affiliate from 1988-90.
Yost said he and Melvin will begin building an experienced coaching staff Wednesday when bullpen coach Billy Castro gets the first interview.
Melvin said former Rangers manager Jerry Narron, whom he hired when they were in Texas together, wants to be on Yost's staff.
Melvin also said he hopes to hire an assistant general manager and a special assistant to the GM for scouting by week's end.
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