If you are a Brewers fan, you know Robin Yount as a Hall of Famer who played his entire career with the Brewers, was a two-time MVP (at two different positions, no less), had 3,142 career hits, and drove in and scored a combined 3,038 runs.
But I bet you didn’t know that Robin Yount shares a rare milestone stat with fellow Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson: They are the only two players in MLB history to have 100 or more sacrifice hits (bunts) and 100 or more sacrifice flies.
The decline of sacrifice bunts in Major League Baseball
If you are like me, you’ve noticed that bunting is certainly not as big a part of baseball as it used to be. Consider this: From 1901, there were at least 1,000 sacrifice bunts in the majors every year until 2017. That’s a steak of 117 consecutive years!
Over the past six seasons, sacrifice bunts have dropped to below 1,000 each year. Last year there were only 390 sacrifice bunts, the lowest total in the majors ever… if you don’t count the 126 in the short-season of 2020.
The chance of anymore players having 100 sacrifice bunts and 100 sacrifice flies in a career is probably highly unlikely.
Yount had 104 sacrifice bunts in his career to go along with 123 sacrifice flies. Brooks Robinson had 101 sacrifice bunts and 114 sacrifice flies in his storied career.
MLB players with 75 career sacrifice bunts and 75 career sacrifice flies
If we drop the numbers down to 75 sacrifice bunts and 75 sacrifice flies, there are only 13 players in MLB history who reached those stats. They are (in alphabetical order):
Roberto Alomar: 148 sacrifice bunts/97 sacrifice flies
Luis Aparicio: 161/76
Craig Biggio: 101/81
Bob Boone: 142/78
Willie Davis: 83/96
Steve Finley: 91/75
Paul Molitor: 75/109
Edgar Renteria: 99/76
Brooks Robinson: 101/114
Alan Trammell: 124/76
Omar Vizquel: 256/94
Lou Whitaker: 89/91
Robin Yount: 104/123
In addition to Yount, there are only three other Brewers players who had 50 sacrifice bunts and 50 sacrifice flies in a Milwaukee uniform: Jim Gantner (106 sacrifice bunts/52 sacrifice flies), Paul Molitor (68/61) and B.J. Surhoff (52/59).
Six Brewers players in 2022 had at least one sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly
Last year there were six Brewers players who had at least one sacrifice bunt and one sacrifice fly in their season stat line. The six: Victor Caratini (1 sacrifice bunt/1 sacrifice fly), Omar Narvaez (1/1), Jace Peterson (2/3), Hunter Renfroe (2/3), Kolten Wong (2/5) and Christian Yelich (1/2). Narvaez, Peterson, Renfroe and Wong are no longer with the Brewers.
For More Great Wisconsin Sports Content
Follow me on Twitter at @Statsontapp and follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great content.
