(La Porte County, IN) - It’s an exciting time for a La Porte County woman, who’s watching her nephew, Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers, play for a chance at winning his first World Series title.
“It’s unbelievable to think that little baby I once held in my arms is in the World Series. It’s surreal,” said Irene Yelich-Stevens, who still lives in Fish Lake where she grew up.
Hoping the Brewers would win, she didn’t turn off her TV until after midnight early Wednesday when they lost 4-3 to the Tampa Bay Rays in 12 innings in Game 4 of the World Series.
“I think I’m going to need to call and make a cardiology appointment. They’ve been nail biters, right, the games,” she said.
She watched the game with her 91-year old mother, who is Yelich’s grandmother.
“She never misses a game,” she said.
Yelich, now in his 14th major league baseball season, is a left fielder and designated hitter for the Brewers. The National League’s Most Valuable Player in 2018 has over 200 home runs and 900 runs batted in for his career.
The Brewers, who have never won the World Series since the franchise moved from Seattle in 1970, are ahead 3 games to 1 in the best of seven series.
Yelich-Stevens along with her older brothers, Steve, who is Christian’s father, and Chris, the star players’s uncle, all graduated from La Porte High School. Chris Yelich, who later became an offensive lineman in football at UCLA, is a member of the Hubner Sports Hall of Fame at La Porte High School.
He was inducted in 2019.
Chip Jones, who was inducted into the hall of fame as a La Porte High School baseball standout in the early 1970’s, said he knows all of the Yelich siblings and greeted Chris during his induction ceremony.
“We talked a little bit about his nephew, Christian. Obviously, he was really proud of him. Just a really, really nice family,” he said.
Yelich-Stevens said her brother, Steve, who starred at basketball and track in high school, turned down scholarship offers to play basketball in college. He went on to Indiana University focused strictly on becoming an orthodontist.
Yelich-Stevens said watching Christian on the field reminds her so much of his father when he was a student athlete.
“If you ever notice Christian stealing those bases, it’s like I’m watching Steve in track. They have the same body type. Everything,” she said.
After college, Steve Yelich made a career in pharmaceutical sales in southern California where he still lives after moving there to be closer to his brother in Thousand Oaks where Christian grew up west of Los Angeles.
Yelich-Stevens said she’s asked about her connection to Christian from time to time but, ironically, most people share memories of watching her brothers play sports during their high school days. She said the late University of Michigan football coaching legend, Bo Schembechler, once came to their home to speak to Chris about joining his team.
Yelich-Stevens said it’s been a few years but she has visited Christian, occasionally, since he was born and speaks regularly with his father.
She’s also been to his games, including some at Wrigley Field in Chicago, where she had her picture taken with her nephew on the field during his MVP season.
“We keep close tabs on him for sure with my brother,” she said.
Yelich-Stevens also credited her brother for the time he spent with his son, Christian, throughout his childhood working on his game and paying for private lessons.
“What it takes to get a player to this level is unreal and here we are. He’s got the chance to win the World Series,” she said.
Yelich-Stevens said her family moved to Fish Lake from Gary when she was 5 years old. She never left the area and spent close to 39-years at Beacon Medical Group in La Porte where she was an office supervisor when she retired about two-years ago.
Yelich-Stevens said her favorite memory of Christian is probably when he was a toddler and she bought him a toy barbecue grill that sizzled.
“He giggled and laughed. He was just the sweetest little boy,” she said.
