"I tell children I'm the happiest person you'll ever meet."

A really good non-baseball, baseball story from the Prodigal Beat Writer and our Brewers guest yesterday.

The guy's name is Larry Hisle, and he accomplished some pretty cool things on the diamond during a 14-year big league run that was capped by a five-year stint with the Crew.

Two all-star appearances. A third-place finish in the American League most valuable player voting after hitting .290 with 34 bombs and 115 RBI in '78 — his first and, by far, most productive season with the Brewers before a bum right shoulder slowed him up and eventually ended a career.

The former outfielder even earned a pair of rings while serving as the hitting coach for those potent Toronto Blue Jays clubs that captured World Series titles in 1992 and '93.

Yeah, he had game. But he talks an even better one.

Hisle earns a paycheck these days as manager of the Brewers' youth outreach program, a gig he has held since 2001. He's also the founder of Major League Mentoring, a Milwaukee-based youth program.

Through both ventures, which primarily keeps him confined in the Milwaukee area, Hisle has made it his mission to be a difference-maker to a kid who's in serious need of some guidance.

Go read it all especially to find out why that quote was used for the title of this post. I'll be back later this afternoon.