If you’ve read this blog for a while you know how much I revere great broadcasters. As a formerly aspiring one myself, any true artisan of the craft is on my list of favorites. I admire Vern Lundquist for his simplicity, Joe Buck for his voice, and Doc Emerick for his diction. Not to be left out are the guys that bring some personality to the game they call. I’m talking fun loving, laugh it up while telling lies kind of guys. The eccentric Hawk Harrelson comes to mind in that regard, as does the creative John Sterling…but no one operated “juuuuuuuust a bit outside” the media norms quite like Bob Uecker did.

Sadly Mr. Baseball passed Thursday at the age of 90, a lifetime worth celebrating rather than mourning. “Ueck,” a Milwaukee native since birth had dreams of playing America’s National pastime from an early age, and those came true. In five major league seasons as a backup catcher for the hometown Milwaukee Braves, Cardinals, Phillies and Atlanta Braves, Bob hit .200 with 14 homers and 74 RBI’s. It wasn’t a career to scoff at, unless of course you were Bob who made jokes at his own expense often.

After retiring in 1967, Uecker would work his way to the broadcast booth, and eventually become the radio voice of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1971. That 71 season was the begging of the second longest broadcasting tenure in the majors behind the Royals Denny Matthews. We’ll get back to Uecker the play by play man in a bit, but to fully understand his legend, you have to understand the fixture he was in American culture. Bob brought a charisma and flare to the game, which opened doors for him beyond his wildest dreams that grew his celebrity immensely.

Amongst his many awards, perhaps Ueckers highest honor is “hall of fame Carson guest” as he appeared on the Tonight Show over 100 times. Johnny Carson gave Bob the now famous nickname “Mr. Baseball,” a sign of Carson’s affection for the broadcaster, something that was notoriously hard to win. The comedic chops Uecker flexed on the show spawned even success on television in his series of Miller Lite ads and in the ABC sitcom Mr. Belvedere.

All of this acting and comedic talent that Uecker put on display really created the perfect storm for his fame to hit even higher heights. The 1989 baseball classic Major League began filming and was in need of an announcer to play the voice of the Indians Harry Doyle. With the game scenes being filmed at Milwaukee’s County Stadium, standing in for Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Uecker got to join the cast…and he proceeded to steal the show. His classic one liners made for the quintessential play by play man portrayal in film and really helped add to the already great fun that was Major League. He’d reprise the role in a pair of lesser sequels, though Bob kept them afloat with his trademark wit.

I could go on and on about how funny the man is, but I think you get the point. It feels like a good time to get back to talking about his truly defining career arc, his time as the voice of the Brewers. The nice thing about Bob’s time in the booth was that “the Brew Crew” started to get good, very good. Starting in the late 70’s their core of Robin Yount, Cecil Cooper, Paul Molitor, Gorman Thomas and Ben Oglivie started to contend in the AL East. They were an offense first ball club, that became known as “Harvey’s Wallbangers” under manager Harvey Kuenn on their way to winning the 1982 AL Pennant. Though they would lose the World Series to the Cardinals in 7, they remain an enduring team of the late 70’s and 80’s, in part because Uecker was there to bring their moments into homes.

Unfortunately the 1982 season was the high water mark of Brewers baseball for a long time to come, as the team struggled to regularly contend through the turn of the millennium. Uecker and the fans watched along until the 2000’s, when a new era of Brewers baseball would begin with a feverish pennant race in 2008. The crew battled their way to the Wild Card chase with the help of new found ace CC Sabathia, and there were many clutch moments along the way that Bob helped bring to life. Since then the Brewers have made the playoffs eight times, the NLCS twice and won the Central title 4 times. All of the success along with some other classics before from the clubs quieter years make up our celebration of Ueck’s calls below.

The unofficial Uecker Bible

Cooper’s Big Knock

All of these great calls and more led to Bob winning the Ford C. Frick broadcasters award, which saw him honored as a member of the 2003 Hall of Fame class. As you could imagine his speech was incredible.

Uecker’s work in the booth and connection with the Brewers players made him both a part of the city he loved and the team he cheered for each night. He loved The Brew Crew and it would seem almost every player loved him back. Across every era he would be seen hanging out with the guys in the clubhouse, on the field or in the champagne celebration.

Your broadcaster should never be bigger than the game itself, despite sometimes having to balance out a larger than life personality. Uecker certainly met both criteria as he was the soundtrack of summer in Milwaukee for an eternity. Not many will ever be as beloved by so many as he was, and rightfully so because he was one of a kind. Fans still pay to sit “next to Bob” and his famous statue in the upper level of American Family Field, as seen below…quite the sign of love for him by fans everywhere.

He lived a life in baseball, which sure as hell beats most of the lives we all could dream of living. So rest in peace Bob, the ballgame in the sky just got a new announcer, and this one brought jokes.

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