Bob Uecker didn’t need much effort to play quick-witted broadcaster Harry Doyle in the movie “Major League.” Milwaukee Brewers fans have listened to this act with joy for over 50 years.
Uecker, whose humor made him a celebrity far beyond the world of baseball, died Thursday at age 90, the Brewers announced. Uecker was the play-by-play voice of the Milwaukee Brewers since 1971, one of the longest runs by a broadcaster with a single team in MLB history.
Fans outside of Wisconsin were also familiar with Uecker, who achieved a level of fame rarely achieved by baseball broadcasters. He was on their televisions, appearing regularly with Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show,” playing a starring role in the 1980s sitcom “Mr. Belvedere” or in Miller Lite commercials that are still memorable decades after they aired. Many fans still recite Uecker’s best lines from his character in “Major League.”
But deep down, Uecker was not a national star. It was Milwaukee, his hometown. Year after year, he returned to call games on WTMJ radio for what was usually a losing Brewers team. When the Brewers were bad, he could carry an entire season with his entertaining stories between games. On the rare occasions when the Brewers were good, he elevated the games with his work as a broadcaster. Uecker’s broadcasting earned him the prestigious Ford Frick Award in 2003, and he received the honor during Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown. His Hall of Fame speech was legendary.
Uecker was given the nickname “Mr. Baseball” as a tongue-in-cheek nod to his mediocre playing career. But after spending a lifetime entertaining baseball fans, the nickname was actually quite fitting.
Bob Uecker was a broadcasting legend
Many of Uecker’s self-deprecating jokes are derived from his major league career. He hit .200 in his six seasons as a catcher with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. One of his 14 major league home runs was hit by Los Angeles Dodgers great pitcher Sandy Koufax. In typical Uecker form, he said he feared a home run would keep Koufax out of the Hall of Fame. Uecker also homered against Hall of Famers Ferguson Jenkins and Gaylord Perry.
One of Uecker’s favorite jokes was about signing with the Braves in 1956. He said he signed for $3,000, which upset his father because he didn’t have that kind of money to pay the bills. Brave. No matter how many times he told the joke, it always got a laugh.
Uecker’s stories aired while he was on the show and the match was out of control. He began broadcasting Brewers games in 1971, the team’s second year in Milwaukee. He was still organizing their matches more than 50 years later, although on a limited schedule once he reached the age of 80. His style of mixing wit and excellent delivery when the game demands it has never changed. He had his favorite jokes (about catching Phil Niekro’s knuckleball, his advice was “wait until it stops rolling and pick it up”), but he could play many games without repeating a story.
Many Wisconsinites grew up listening to Uecker’s calling games on transistor radios. It was a tradition during baseball season. Ask a Brewers fan of a certain age about Uecker’s call for a ninth-inning comeback on Easter Sunday 1987, the team’s 12th straight win to start the season, and they’ll probably remember exactly where he was. Uecker is the greatest and most popular figure in Brewers history – and second place isn’t close.
At different points in his career, Uecker could have left Milwaukee for a larger market. He worked for ABC and NBC, calling several playoff games, including some World Series contests. He didn’t have a formal contract with the Brewers for most of his career, just a series of handshakes with team owners Bud Selig and Mark Attanasio. Yet he always stayed.
Milwaukee was happy to share its legend with the rest of the country.
Uecker became famous thanks to Johnny Carson
Uecker became famous beyond baseball primarily because of Carson. Uecker got his big break when he opened for comedian Don Rickles at musician Al Hirt’s nightclub in Atlanta in 1969. Hirt got him to appear as a guest on Carson’s show, via CBS News. This led to over 100 appearances on Carson over the years. Carson is credited with giving Uecker the nickname “Mr. Baseball.”
This opened doors for Uecker. The Miller Lite ads (“I have to be in the front row,” when Uecker is pushed out of his bad seat is his enduring line) were a huge success. Uecker then took his fame to another level when he played Doyle in the 1989 film “Major League.” Spend enough time in a baseball stadium and you’ll inevitably hear his famous old line: “Juuust a little outside.”
For all his fame outside of the game, Uecker was a baseball lifer who had a gift for comedy. That’s why he continued to do radio broadcasting in one of the majors’ smallest markets, calling games for a team that hasn’t been to the World Series since 1982. He continued to call games because of health problems which included two heart operations. He was so popular among Brewers players that they voted him a full playoff share of $123,000 during their playoff run in 2018. Uecker donated the money to charity. Few broadcasters are as synonymous with a sports franchise, and Uecker has a statue outside Brewers Stadium.
“I still love making the plays,” he said in a 2020 interview with Bob Costas. “I still shoot for us (the Brewers), every day. Every day. The other things I did, it always came back to baseball. I never wanted to do anything else.”
Baseball fans are happy that Uecker never outgrew the sport. Brewers fans are happy he was never too big for Milwaukee.
