Milwaukee ? When Ned Yost looks across the field to night at Miller Park, he’ll see the best team in the major leagues, one that he was a part of for 12 years before being named manager of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Does he have any regrets about leaving perennial powerhouse Atlanta to take over the helm of one of the worst teams in the big leagues?

“If you’re asking me if I’d rather be third-base coach for the Atlanta Braves or manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, I’d rather be manager of the Milwaukee Brewers,” Yost said.

It’s the dream of nearly every employee in America to be his or her own boss. But there’s also the old saying about being careful what you wish for, because you might get it.

Yost couldn’t care less what people say about his decision to manage the Brewers, who have scuttled a skipper or two during their soon-to-be 11 consecutive years of losing. He took this job thinking he could make a difference.

“I saw a quote on the Internet after I got hired that said, ‘Why does he want that job? There’s no talent on that team. They’ve got no chance to win, no chance to be respectable,”‘ Yost said. “I don’t agree with that. Sure, it was fun in Atlanta but this is fun in a different way. The challenge is what’s fun here.”

If stiff challenges truly are fun, Yost must be having the time of his life. The Brewers are 23 games below .500, once again in last place in the six-team NL Central and in danger of posting their second consecutive 100-loss season.

On the flip side, Atlanta is steamrolling toward its 12th consecutive title, wrapped around the strike-shortened season in 1994.

Yost, who will be 48 in two weeks, served eight years as Atlanta’s bullpen coach and four more as third-base coach, learning the game at the hand of Bobby Cox, one of the most respected and successful managers in the majors. It was a comfy, secure perch from which to watch the baseball world go by.