I’m a big fan of Prince. Shout out to my neighbors to the west in Minnesota. I love you guys. I’m already off track. When Prince passed I remember pundits asking, “How many people are so iconic that they own a color?” Now I ask you, how many people can say they own a season? For over five decades Bob Uecker owned summer in Wisconsin. The sound of his voice – hell, the mere mention of his name – transports me to a tailgate, family party, road trip, baseball stadium, or anywhere good times are had during the summer. It’s a cold mid-January night in the midst of a particularly brutal stretch of Wisconsin winter weather, yet the wave of Bob Uecker memories I’m reminded of today has made it feel like summer.
You might be thinking, “Take it down a notch, Mr. Hyperbole. He was a baseball announcer.” No, he wasn’t just a baseball announcer. He was Mr. Baseball. In a sport full of legends he owned the nickname. He was a lot of other things, too. Standup comedian. WWE Hall of Famer. Saturday Night Live host. Legendary Miller Lite pitchman. 40 years since his famous “I must be in the front row” ad and I swear someone still quotes it at every sporting event. He was one of Johnny Carson’s go-to Tonight Show guests. In fact, Carson is the one who dubbed him “Mr. Baseball” during one of his 100+ appearances on the show. He played George Owens on Mr. Belvedere from 1985 – 1990. To be honest, I don’t know a thing about Mr. Belvedere. I do know that I can’t name another sports announcer who could carry a network sitcom for six seasons and 118 episodes.
He was Harry freaking Doyle in my all-time favorite sports movie, Major League. Still 35 years later, if you go to a baseball game at any level and don’t quote one of Bob Uecker’s lines from Major League you should be ejected from the venue. I’m not sure there’s a more quotable scene in cinema than Ricky Vaughn’s first outing as a Cleveland Indian. Of course there’s the obvious “Juuuuuust a bit outside” but keep watching. “Ball 4. Ball 8. He’s walked the bases loaded on 12 straight pitches. How can these guys lay off of pitches that close?” My personal favorite Harry Doyle moment comes later in the movie when he blurts out “That’s all we got? One goddamn hit?” After being told he can’t say “goddamn” on the air he fires back, “Don’t worry, nobody’s listening anyway.” If you watch baseball and don’t say, “That’s all we got? One goddamn hit?” anytime you notice a team with only one hit, we can’t be friends.
I have yet to mention that the man played professional baseball. He was so self-deprecating that he’d have you believe that he was literally the worst baseball player in the history of the sport, or at least the worst to ever make it to the majors. Even the worst player in the majors is better at baseball than anyone you know and still in the top thousandth of a percent of people playing the game (that’s not an official stat, don’t look that up). He played all or part of six seasons in the bigs, including two years with his hometown Milwaukee Braves. He was a member of the 1964 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals, although he’d be the first to remind everyone that he never actually played in the series. No matter. I didn’t need to see him or the ’64 Cards play to know that a team doesn’t win a championship without guys like Bob Uecker in the dugout. Check out the reason the Cards had to take a second team picture that season.
After a brief, failed stint as a scout for the Brewers he did become a baseball announcer. Our baseball announcer. A Milwaukee native and the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers for longer than I’ve been alive. Since 1971. He made exciting games even better. His signature home run call, “Get up…get up…get outta here…GONE!” will be what Brewer fans hear in our heads during every home run from now through eternity. The Brewers didn’t give him as many big moments to call as he deserved during 50+ years in the booth, but when he got a chance he always made the best of them. I still remember Easter Sunday in 1987 in my Uncle Dan’s yard listening to Ueck call their epic 9th inning comeback and Dale Sveum’s game winner. Even better was his ability to take the most meaningless, dog days of summer, Brewers are 20 games out of first place and have no hope, mid-August game and make it entertaining. There was no greater raconteur in sports. I like to think I have a lot of funny people in my life and I’ve spent my life watching sitcoms, comedies, and standup comedians. That said, few people have made me laugh more than baseball commentator Bob Uecker.
My favorite random Uecker moment came on a drive to our family’s cottage in Northern Wisconsin with my brother. I’m guessing the year was 2007. It was a Friday afternoon game in late-Spring/early-Summer. That year Uecker had an ad that he must’ve read at least 500 times that season that started out with the line, “You know the best way to get into the Milwaukee Zoo this summer?” The ad continued with something about if you spent enough money on some product you would earn free tickets to the zoo. I don’t remember the product or what you had to do to earn the free tickets, but I heard it so much that spring/summer that I had it memorized at the time. That was 17 years ago and I’m old now so I don’t remember. At some point during a break in the action, Uecker went back to that same ad I’d already heard way too often and said, “Hey! You know the best way to get into the Milwaukee Zoo this summer? Wait until dark and jump over the fence. The animals are awake and you get the entire zoo to yourself.” It was such an unexpected, hilarious moment in the middle of a game. I swear I laughed so hard I almost drove off the road. He must’ve been so bored reading the same ad over and over again. One time he finally changed it and there’s no way I can do it justice. It was a real life “you can’t say goddamn on the air” moment. The other announcer couldn’t stop laughing. Uecker’s career was full of moments like that.
For years I’ve turned on Brewer games and just left them playing in the background while I did other things because Ueck was on. I’ve chosen Brewer games on long car trips over listening to music because I wanted Ueck to talk to me. He was the reason to listen to Brewer games for many hopeless years as a Brewer fan. We never took that for granted. With the level of fame he reached I assume he could’ve easily done the same thing countless players have done over the course of his career and said goodbye to a small market for bigger notoriety and money. 50+ years with the team and he never signed an actual contract. I have a difficult time believing that’s true, but if it’s not, I don’t want to know. He spent some time on national broadcasts, but he always remained the voice of the Brewers. He was a Wisconsinite and Brewer fan like us. That meant everything. We haven’t won a World Series, but we have Mr. Baseball.
Here’s what I keep thinking today: Has there been anyone in the history of the State of Wisconsin with a higher approval rating than Bob Uecker? I sincerely challenge you to find someone. Even people who don’t know baseball love Ueck. I’ve heard a lot of people in recent years reciting some version of the adage, “If you don’t have haters you’re doing something wrong.” I understand what they mean and I think there’s truth to it. Whenever I hear it I think to myself that there is are people who accomplish amazing things while being universally adored. If you can figure that out you’re truly someone special. Ueck is one. I can’t think of a single person who would legitimately hate Bob Uecker. Millions love him. What a legacy to leave behind. Can you imagine what his funeral/memorial service will look like? A bittersweet day for baseball fans in the State of Wisconsin as I imagine it will be the greatest reunion of Milwaukee Brewers we’ve ever seen.
I’m also thinking a lot today about the handful of people I’ve already seen online saying, “The Crew is gonna win this year for Ueck.” That will be the rallying cry for 2025 with good reason. I was six years old when the Brewers lost to the Cardinals in Game 7 of the 1982 series. I still remember Ueck on the call. I would’ve never imagined I’d be 48 years old writing about that one time they almost won when I was six. Maybe the loss of Uecker will inspire the team this year to win one for him and that combined with some kind of divine intervention will finally bring a title to Milwaukee. Unfortunately it would be a year too late as far as I’m concerned. If it ever happens it truly won’t be as satisfying as it would’ve been with him here. He deserved to call a championship team. It’s a shame the franchise never delivered.
More than anything, I’m just grateful today. Brewer fans don’t get national attention and certainly don’t get a lot of love. What we did have throughout all of it was Bob Uecker. He made the Brewers feel special. He brought joy and fun to every game he called. People around the country got to see him on The Tonight Show, Major League, Mr. Belvedere, and the occasional baseball game. We got him 150+ days a year from March to October for five decades. I didn’t know the man, but he’s been there for me my entire life. It reminds me of the late James Earl Jones’s amazing monologue from the movie Field of Dreams:
“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game — it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again.”
One constant in my life has been Bob Uecker. Rest in peace, Mr. Baseball. Summers will not be the same without you.
mookiefantana 