Robin Yount had been building toward his 1982 MVP award for quite some time.

Known as "The Kid" when he first came to the Brewers at age 18, Yount had been maturing as a person and player for nine years by the time '82 rolled around. He had become a solid contributor in the big leagues as a shortstop with great range and decent, yet not outstanding hitter.

In 1982, it all came together. Yount finished among the American League leaders in seven categories and hit .331 to finish only one point short of KC's Willie Wilson for the batting title.

Yount led the AL in hits (210) and total bases (367), tied the Royals' Hal McCrae for most doubles (46), was second in runs scored (129), third in triples (12) and fourth in RBI (114). Throw in 29 homers, 14 stolen bases and a Gold Glove Award at short, and you know why fans were chanting "MVP, MVP" by August.

"It did sort of all come together that season," Yount said years later. "We had a terrific hitting lineup from top to bottom, so it became sort of contagious."

Yount led that contagious fever. "Robin just had a great season," longtime teammate and friend Jim Gantner said. "He did everything that year and sort of sparked all of us."

Neither Yount nor his teammates were that sparked in May though, when they were struggling under manager Buck Rodgers. In early June, general manager Harry Dalton decided to make the move to Harvey Kuenn, and Yount took off with the rest of Harvey's Wallbangers.

"We all knew Harvey for years," Yount said. "Harvey was intense. He wasn't easy going when the game started. He was the nicest guy in the world, but when the game started he was out there to fight. He just let us go out there and do that, and have fun playing baseball."

Within a week after Kuenn took over, the Brewers twice hit back-to-back-to-back homers. Yount led the pack with Cecil Cooper and Ben Oglivie on June 5. With Yount leading the way, the Brewers won 20 of their first 27 games under Kuenn in June and 11 of their first 15 in July to take over first place on July 11. Yount was the leading vote-getter in All Star balloting and started the annual classic in July.

The Orioles hung close to the Brewers, however, until the final game of the season on Oct. 3. Yount hit two homers and a triple in that now famous game in which the Brewers beat the Orioles, 10-2, to clinch the division championship.

"That was probably the greatest game he ever played," said former Brewers' owner and current baseball commissioner Bud Selig. "He turned the momentum of that series around. And that was tough to do. We had lost the first three games there and we were going down hill on a 90-mile-an-hour toboggan ride. He just turned it around. That would have been the end."

Appropriately enough, it was Yount who threw out Rod Carew on the final play to beat the Angels and win the AL pennant. He had a great post-season overall (.414 in the World Series), but couldn't get the Brewers past the Cardinals.

After the season, Kuenn called Yount, "the best all-round shortstop I've ever seen play." Dalton said, "He can beat you four ways. With his glove. With his arm. With his bat. With his legs. He's probably the best baserunner in the league as far as instincts are concerned. Those are the four things you look for in a ballplayer, and he can do all of them." Accolades showered in from all over baseball.

While Yount appreciated the praise and MVP award, he said, "I really wasn't trying to win the MVP award or anything, and I would trade it in a minute for the world championship.

"You hear people say things like that. It's a fine compliment, and I'm flattered, but I don't know if it's true. I just enjoy playing baseball. It's fun. I enjoy the competition."

Yount's magical '82 season ended with an appropriate scene. After a parade for the team downtown, thousands of fans and the players settled into County Stadium for a ceremony. Yount, who usually shunned flashiness, roared into the stadium on his Harley and pronounced, "I'm not very good at making speeches, but I sure can ride a motorcycle."

Of course, Yount went on to a second MVP, as a centerfielder in 1989, and eventually to 3,000-plus hits and the Hall of Fame.

But, 1982 will always be known as the year The Kid became MVP.