By
Maxx Wolfson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Before yesterday, Robin Yount had never stepped foot on Sancet Field.
Now, after winning the Fifth Third Bank All-Pro Alumni Game, 5-1, the former Milwaukee Brewer left 1-0 as a manager and honorary alum of the University of Arizona.
Yount, who was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, made frequent visits to Tucson as a player when the Brewers played their spring training games at Hi Corbett Field.
"Tucson is a great town," Yount said. "I liked it a lot, especially because our team scored more runs than the other team, and that makes it a lot more fun."
Yount said the hardest part about managing the UA alumni was deciding on which players to put into the game. On a team consisting of all major leaguers, standouts were hard to find.
Former Wildcats J.T. Snow (San Francisco Giants), Trevor Hoffman (San Diego Padres), Ben Diggins (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Gil Heredia (Oakland Athletics) were just a few of the stars playing for the All-Pro Alumni team.
Snow, who was a three-year letterman and a career .333 hitter at UA, said he enjoys coming back to his alma mater.
"I think a lot of guys look forward to coming back every year and seeing some of the new guys that are now professional ballplayers and getting to spend some time with some of the guys who have been playing for awhile," Snow said. "We enjoy it. It's a fun weekend for us."
Snow, who participated in the home run contest prior to the game, spent most of the pregame festivities getting to know the current UA players.
"We were all in their shoes once," Snow said. "It doesn't seem like that long ago, but as another year goes by, it is. It's fun to talk to the guys about baseball and going to school, and hopefully one day they can do this with younger kids."
Snow stuck around long after the game was over, talking with UA freshman pitcher Tony Sulser.
Sulser - whose former high school coach, Wes Clements, was an All-Pro Alumni coach in the game - pitched one inning in a losing cause.
"It was really cool getting a chance to pitch against guys who have made it," Sulser said. "J.T. Snow is the man, and all these guys are really cool."
UA head coach Jerry Stitt said current Wildcats can learn a lot from the former Arizona players.
"I just want my guys to try to learn," Stitt said. "You see guys like Heredia, who was hitting every spot. It's a really valuable thing."
Keoni DeRenne, playing in his first All-Pro Alumni Game, struggled to make the transition from current player to alum.
DeRenne left UA after three seasons as a Wildcat as a 12th-round draft pick of the Atlanta Braves.
"I couldn't sleep last night because I was so nervous and excited," he said. "It's just a great feeling knowing that I have worked my whole life to get to this point and now I get to share with other guys that are living my dream as well as their own dream. To be a part of this Wildcat family is awesome."
