Todd Rosiak

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

PHOENIX - The reigning National League most valuable player put his best foot forward – literally – Monday in an attempt to support the player many believe will be named NBA MVP.

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich was rocking a sporty pair of yellow and green socks adorned with the likeness, uniform number and name of Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo in the clubhouse before the Brewers' game against the Chicago White Sox.

Then he took his support a step further, so to speak, by wearing them in right field and for both of his at-bats. And they served Yelich well, as he singled twice and scored a run before exiting the game in the fourth inning.

The socks were part of a swag bag given to Yelich by Stance, the official sock supplier to Major League Baseball, after he did an hour-long promo shoot for the company Sunday.

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"I'll rock these things and show some love," Yelich said. "They're cool. I was like, 'Yeah, man, I'll show some love for Giannis and the Bucks.'

"I'd love to see him win. I think he deserves it. (The Bucks) have had an unbelievable year as a team, he's been unbelievable individually and it's been fun to watch. They've been a great to follow, and it's been great for the city and great for the state.

"I think it's definitely well-deserved, and hopefully he gets the honor. He doesn't seem like a guy that would campaign for it; I wasn't really that way, either. But it's definitely well-deserved."

Yelich fell one vote shy of winning his MVP award unanimously in November, after nearly winning the Triple Crown and helping the Brewers to their first Central Division title since 2011.

Antetokounmpo has led the Bucks to the best record in the NBA but would appear to have some serious competition for his MVP hardware from Houston Rockets scoring machine James Harden.

Yelich caught the Bucks in action last week in Phoenix, where they were upset by the lowly Suns. He had hoped to meet the Greek Freak for the first time after the game but chose to wait.

"I was going to try and say what's up after that Suns game but they ended up losing. I kind of know how that works – you don't want to talk to anybody," he said. "But I'm sure we'll cross paths at some point in Milwaukee."