Get to know Q&A with Brewers reliever Hoby Milner: On 'Baywatch,' being mistaken for a police officer and Darth Kittypuss
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Hoby Milner may look unassuming, but he's been one of the Milwaukee Brewers' best relievers over the past three seasons.
Entering the weekend at San Diego, the left-hander was 3-0 with a 4.24 earned run average, WHIP of 1.15 and 34 strikeouts in 34 innings over 34 appearances. He also recorded his first career save April 19 at St. Louis in the 242nd relief appearance of his career.
In four seasons with the Brewers, Milner is 8-4 with a 3.36 ERA, WHIP of 1.14 and 187 strikeouts in 184⅔ innings over 193 appearances.
He leads Milwaukee in outings this year, and his 174 appearances since 2022 rank him second in the major leagues behind only Cleveland's Emmanuel Clase (187).
During the Brewers' series against the Los Angeles Angels, the soft-spoken but highly personable Milner took some time with Todd Rosiak to answer a few questions.
Q. Let me get this straight. You were named after a character in "Baywatch?"
Milner: It's David Hasselhoff’s son on the show, Hobie. My parents just liked it, I guess, but they changed the spelling to Hoby. There's a brand of catamaran called a Hobie Cat and I think that’s what (Hobie) was named after.
Q. You’re the only Hoby to have played in the major leagues. Did the Brewers miss out on a great opportunity a couple years ago when they could have had Hobie Harris in the bullpen as well?
Milner: Yeah, he never made it up with us (although Hobie Harris did make it to the majors with Washington in 2023). That would have been cool. His name isn’t even Hobie; it’s Robert. Hobie is just something like a nickname. It’s not even his middle name. It’s like Rowdy (Tellez) is actually named Ryan.
Q. Sticking to the topic of cool names, you have a cat named Darth Kittypuss?
Milner: I like to do like punny names, I guess, and I was trying to think of a "Star Wars" name for him. I wanted to do something with Darth and Darth Sidious is Emperor's name. So, we went with Darth Kittypuss. He's pretty much black, about 99%, with a little bit of white.
Q. Your father, Brian, has an incredible story in that he debuted in the major leagues in 1978 with Toronto as an 18-year-old, played two games and then never made it back. How has he helped guide you along the way in your baseball journey?
Milner: My dad helped me a lot when I was younger. Like, we'd go throw, hit, whatever. He taught me a lot about hitting, especially when I was younger. And then pitch calling and stuff like that came later on, like high school time. After that, really, we were in uncharted territory. Once I got to pro ball pretty much he was like, "Just keep grinding." Our careers are so much different. He was 18 and in the big leagues. I was in college for three years and it took me five or six years in the minor leagues to get to the big leagues. So, I'd say he helped me more mentally than, like, mechanically. He helped me with managing expectations, things like that.
Q. He was a catcher. How did it happen that you became a pitcher, other than the fact you're lefty?
Milner: I played pretty much every position growing up. I caught even though I was left-handed. I really enjoyed catching but my dad was like, "You're not going to catch. It's not going to work." And I just wasn’t built for catching. When I got to high school I was a really good outfielder, really good pitcher. And when I went to the University of Texas they said I could two-way when I got there. So, I was playing outfield my freshman fall and pitching, and I was hitting pretty well. But I took a fastball off the eye and then I had surgery and I came back wearing one of those softball cages and I struck out, like, 12 straight times and I didn't want to hit anymore. So, I just focused on pitching.
Q. Were you a natural left-hander, or did your dad steer you into it?
Milner: I'm left-handed in literally everything except for shooting with a hockey stick. But according to what I know about hockey, lefties shoot right-handed because you're controlling the stick with your left hand. I know the only reason I shoot it righty is because one of my best friends growing up was a right-handed hockey player, and I just used his stick.
Q. You've played for four teams in eight years in the majors and also for seven minor-league teams since 2012. How nice has the stability been for you and your family these last three years with the Brewers?
Milner: Oh, it's been great. I mean, it wasn't until two months into ‘22 that I was like, "OK, I might stick around for the year." And then reaching arbitration that year allowed me to like have a little bit more stability, and my mother-in-law bought a house in the area so we could all live together because we’ve got the two kids. That's been great for last year and this year. Without that, it'd be a lot harder. My first year here with the Brewers when I was up and down (frequently between Milwaukee and Class AAA Nashville) my daughter was three or four months old when the season started, and we had an apartment in Nashville. It was walking distance to the stadium, which was great. But whenever I was up here in the big leagues, we were staying in a hotel. And it was like, one or two weeks at a time when I was up. The next year we stayed in the hotel the entire season. We would check out whenever we were on the road and they would meet me on the road, fly and meet me at whatever city we were at, or they'd go back home to Texas and and then we'd come back and check into a new room. We'd just fill up the car with all of the kids' toys and all that stuff and leave it at the ballpark.
Q. It can be a nomadic existence, but you've paid your dues. If anything, does it teach you not to take anything for granted?
Milner: Yeah, for sure. But it's very possible I could be doing that again at some point, but hopefully we don't have to. It's definitely easier now that we're not in the same situation financially.
Q. I mean this in the nicest possible way, but you don't look like a major-leaguer (Milner is 6-foot-3 and 187 pounds). Do you get that a lot from people out and about as well?
Milner: (laughs) All the time. Because I don't look like a major-league baseball player; just a tall, skinny guy, and I look really young for my age. I was recently at a cigar lounge grabbing a cigar. I was up at the bar buying it and the guy sitting at the bar right next to me was like, "You look like a police officer." And I was like, "No, not a police officer." "What what do you do?" I was like, "I play baseball." This was an hour and a half, two hours after a game and I was just grabbing a cigar on the way home. And he was like, "Me too." This was a 50-year-old guy. And then he asked me, "Who do you play for?" "The Brewers." And everyone at the bar was like (turning their heads and looking). Then he's like, "What's your name?" "Hoby Milner." "Oh, you're my son's favorite player!" And I was like, "Oh, really? That's cool." I don't really get recognized or anything. But when people ask, "What do you do for a living?" and I say I play baseball, they usually ask, "Oh, are you in Double-A, Triple-A?" And then I'm like, "Oh, no, this is my eighth season in the big leagues."
Q. Does that number blow your mind a little bit?
Milner: I mean, a lot of them were a week here, a week there. But yeah, got eight bars (on my statistics page), which is pretty sweet. I mean, I've been doing it a while. This is my 13th pro season. I'm proud of everything I've accomplished. So, I don't stress as much anymore because I feel like I've done everything I can and whatever happens, happens.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Q&A with Milwaukee Brewers reliever Hoby Milner
