What was it like growing up with Brewers superstar Christian Yelich?
WTMJ’s Libby Collins sat down with someone who knows him better than anyone… his brother, Collin Yelich.
Collin is now a full-time Milwaukee resident and local realtor.
A portion of the conversation was transcribed below, courtesy of eCourt Reporters, Inc.
LIBBY COLLINS: What are holidays at the Yelich house like?
COLLIN YELICH: Holidays are great. It’s great catching up with all my family just because, I mean, we just love to hang out with one another. So, we have a good time, there’s a lot of food involved, it’s good catching up with my brothers now and stuff like that, just getting to see everybody. I mean, we have a good time. We like to just hang out, relax, and watch movies, have good food times, and just hanging out.
LIBBY COLLINS: So, your older brother Christian is two years older.
COLLIN YELICH: Yeah.
LIBBY COLLINS: And you have a younger brother Cameron.
COLLIN YELICH: Yep.
LIBBY COLLINS: How much younger is he?
COLLIN YELICH: So, he’s two years from me. So, we’re all two years apart.
LIBBY COLLINS: Okay.
COLLIN YELICH: So, we had a full house growing up as a kid.
LIBBY COLLINS: That’s what I’m wondering, because I had four brothers, so I know what guys do.
COLLIN YELICH: Yeah.
LIBBY COLLINS: What kind of trouble did you guys get into when you were young?
COLLIN YELICH: Um, we got —
LIBBY COLLINS: Now be honest.
COLLIN YELICH: Yeah, we got in some trouble, I mean, just typical brothers what you do, you fight with one another and all that, but my mom ran a tight ship at home, and she kept us in line and stuff like that. So, she would just give us the look if we were misbehaving and we needed, okay, this is the look to stop or, you know, you’re going to hear about it later.
LIBBY COLLINS: When you get together with your brothers, what’s the one story you tell each other about, “Do you remember the time we…”
COLLIN YELICH: Wiffle ball in the neighborhood, so.
LIBBY COLLINS: You did what?
COLLIN YELICH: Playing Wiffle ball in the neighborhood. So, we grew up in a cul-de-sac neighborhood, we played Wiffle ball all the time, and you’re always hitting Wiffle balls into people’s backyard, so, you know, you’re jumping over the fence to grab the Wiffle ball, so the game doesn’t end. And neighbors were like, why are you jumping in my backyard, and it’s like, well, trying to play Wiffle ball, so.
LIBBY COLLINS: Did you ever break any windows with the Wiffle ball? I know they’re not a hard ball, so.
COLLIN YELICH: No we didn’t. I mean, we actually used duct tape, like take duct tape and tape the ball so you could throw it farther and make it move quicker and stuff like that, so. We — I mean, I’m surprised we didn’t break a window, but, yeah, I mean, we had some fun with some good Wiffle ball games out in the neighborhood.
LIBBY COLLINS: And I would imagine some of those neighbors were like, wait a minute, those guys were pretty good, we should have watched them more carefully then.
COLLIN YELICH: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, so, we got in a little trouble with the neighbors with Wiffle ball, but nothing too bad.
LIBBY COLLINS: Do you ever get tired of being asked about your brother?
COLLIN YELICH: No, not at all. I mean, like I said, it goes hand-in-hand with the last name that you have, that we both — the fact that we both played professional baseball in itself is a rare thing. Not many families can say, you know, I have two brothers that are in professional baseball together. So, it’s something that, you know, is going to be talked about and especially at the caliber that, you know, Christian plays at and the seasons that he’s had, it’s just going to be a — it’s a part of everyday life that you are going to become accustomed to.
LIBBY COLLINS: But your youngest, your younger brother has never played baseball, or he hasn’t played —
COLLIN YELICH: No, he’s never played baseball growing up. So, I mean, as a young kid, I have a feeling it’s just because, you know, Christian and I were both in baseball, playing travel ball, so he’s being dragged to tournaments every weekend, and then, I mean, he played a little bit growing up, but he liked a more — he played football growing up, so he liked a little bit more fast pace of a game, a lot more action going on, and then eventually went on to the Marine Corps.
LIBBY COLLINS: Sounds like he was more like your grandfather.
COLLIN YELICH: Yes, uh-huh, exactly. Exactly, yeah, he liked the fast-paced sports.