| Bob Uecker | |
|---|---|
 Uecker in 1965 | |
| Catcher | |
| Born:(1934-01-26)January 26, 1934 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. | |
| Died: January 16, 2025(2025-01-16) (aged 90) Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 13, 1962, for the Milwaukee Braves | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 29, 1967, for the Atlanta Braves | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .200 |
| Home runs | 14 |
| Runs batted in | 74 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
As player
As broadcaster | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Robert George Uecker (/ˈjuːkər/YOO-kər; January 26, 1934 – January 16, 2025) was an American professionalbaseball catcher and sportscaster who served as theplay-by-play announcer for theMilwaukee Brewers ofMajor League Baseball (MLB) for 54 seasons. He was also an occasional television and film actor.
Uecker signed with his hometownMilwaukee Braves in 1956, spending several years in theminor leagues with various affiliate clubs before making his major league debut in 1962. As a backup catcher, he played for the Milwaukee Braves,St. Louis Cardinals,Philadelphia Phillies, andAtlanta Braves from 1962 to 1967. He won aWorld Series with the Cardinals in1964.
After retiring, Uecker started a broadcasting career and served as the primary broadcaster for Milwaukee Brewersradio broadcasts from 1971. Uecker became known for his self-deprecating wit and became a regular fixture onlate night talk shows in the 1970s and 1980s, facetiously dubbed "Mr. Baseball" by talk show hostJohnny Carson. He hosted several sportsblooper shows and had an acting career that included his role as George Owens on the television programMr. Belvedere and as play-by-play announcer Harry Doyle in the filmMajor League and its two sequels.
Uecker was honored by theNational Baseball Hall of Fame with its 2003Ford C. Frick Award in recognition of his broadcasting career.
Though he sometimes joked that he had been born on anoleo run to nearbyIllinois (margarine was prohibited in the dairy state ofWisconsin for many years), on January 26, 1934, Uecker was born and raised inMilwaukee, Wisconsin.[1] He was the son ofMichigan native Mary (née Schultz) and August "Gus" Uecker. August Uecker had emigrated fromSwitzerland in 1923. Bob also had two younger sisters, Carol Ann and Rosemary.[2] He grew up watching the minor-leagueMilwaukee Brewers of theAmerican Association atBorchert Field.[3]
Uecker enlisted in theUS Army in 1954, ultimately achieving the rank ofcorporal. He played baseball while atFort Leonard Wood in Missouri andFort Belvoir inVirginia, where he was teammates with future fellow major leaguerDick Groat.[4]
After his Army service, Uecker signed a professional contract with his hometownMilwaukee Braves in1956. With the Braves organization, Uecker played in theminor leagues. In his first season, he played in with theEau Claire Bears in theNorthern League andBoise Braves in thePioneer League. Between both of the clubs, he hit 19 home runs.[5][6]
Uecker made hismajor league debut with the club on April 13,1962. He served as their third-string catcher behindJoe Torre andDel Crandall; Uecker batted .250 in 33 games. He appeared in nine games for the Braves in1963 before he was demoted to the minor leagues.[5] Before the 1964 season, the Braves traded Uecker to theSt. Louis Cardinals for minor leaguersJimmie Coker andGary Kolb. He seldom played for the Cardinals, but was a member of the1964 World Series champions with the Cardinals.[5] After the 1965 season, the Cardinals traded Uecker,Dick Groat, andBill White to thePhiladelphia Philles forPat Corrales,Alex Johnson, andArt Mahaffey.[7] On June 6,1967, the Phillies traded Uecker back to the Braves, now based inAtlanta, forGene Oliver. His six-year major league career concluded in 1967.[5]
A below-average hitter, he finished with a career batting average of .200, retroactively at theMendoza Line, though with four of his seasons ending above .200.[8] He was generally considered to be a sound defensive player and committed very fewerrors as a catcher, completing his career with afielding percentage of .981. However, in 1967, despite playing only 59 games, he led the league inpassed balls. At least a partial explanation is that he spent a good deal of the season catchingPhil Niekro, who threw aknuckleball. Uecker often joked that the best way to catch a knuckleball was to wait until it stopped rolling and pick it up.[9][10]
 | |
| Bob Uecker was honored alongside theretired numbers of theMilwaukee Brewers in 2025. |
After retiring as a player, Uecker became a broadcaster, starting withWSB-TV in Atlanta. In 1971, he began calling play-by-play for theMilwaukee Brewers'radio broadcasts. Uecker's tenure as a Brewers broadcaster for 54 seasons was the second-longest continuous tenure with one team among active Major League Baseball announcers prior to his death, trailing onlyKansas City Royals broadcasterDenny Matthews (1969–present).[11]
In the baseball off-season Uecker was the radio color commentator forUniversity of Wisconsin–MilwaukeePanthersmen's basketball andfootball games carried byWTMJ (620) andWTMJ-FM (1130) in the early 1970s.[12]
During his Brewers tenure, Uecker mentoredPat Hughes,Jim Powell,Cory Provus andJoe Block, all of whom became primary radio announcers for other MLB teams.[13] He also called the1982 World Series locally for the Brewers onWISN (1130) in Milwaukee.
For several years he also served as a color commentator for network television broadcasts of Major League Baseball, helping call games forABC in the 1970s and early 1980s andNBC (teaming withBob Costas andJoe Morgan) in the 1990s. During that time, he was a commentator for severalAll-Star Games,League Championship Series andWorld Series.[14]
At NBC, Uecker was a color commentator for the1994 and1996 All-Star Games,1995 and1996 American League Championship Series,1997 National League Championship Series, and the1995 and1997 World Series. Uecker left NBC before he got a chance to call the1998 All-Star Game[15] fromCoors Field inDenver, Colorado. Uecker underwent a back operation in which four discs were replaced.[16] For the remainder of NBC's contract (1998–2000), only Bob Costas and Joe Morgan[17][18] called the games.
He was well known for saying his catchphrase "Get up! Get up! Get outta here! Gone!" when a Brewers player hit ahome run.[19]
In 2014, Uecker cut back on his workload, limiting the number of road games he would call and traveling he would undertake, due to prior health issues.[20]
Prior to the2021 season, Uecker had never signed an official written contract with the Brewers to do the team's play-by-play, instead agreeing to do so via an undisclosed number ofhandshake agreements with eitherBud Selig orMark Attanasio, the owners of the team. He signed a contract in 2021, in order to be covered under the Brewers'health insurance plan after cuts to hisSAG-AFTRA benefits for acting work.[21][22]
From2022 to2024, Uecker teamed withJeff Levering and Lane Grindle to call Brewers home games and road games inChicago onWTMJ in Milwaukee and theBrewers Radio Network throughout Wisconsin.[23]
Uecker's final broadcast was Game 3 of theNational League Wild Card Series between the Milwaukee Brewers andNew York Mets on October 3, 2024.[24]
Uecker's sports expertise extended beyond baseball. He hosted two syndicated television shows,Bob Uecker's Wacky World of Sports andBob Uecker's War of the Stars. The former has since become known asThe Lighter Side of Sports (albeit with a different host,Mike Golic) and remains one of the longest-running syndicated sports programs in American television history.[25]
Uecker also appeared in a series of commercials for theMilwaukee Admirals of theAmerican Hockey League in the mid-1990s, including one in which he re-designed the team's uniforms to feature a garish plaid reminiscent of the loud sports coats synonymous with Uecker in the 1970s and 1980s. In February 2006, the Admirals commemorated those commercials with a special event in which the players wore the plaid jerseys during a game. The jerseys were then auctioned off to benefit charity.[26]
In March 1987, Uecker appeared atWorld Wrestling Federation's (WWF, now WWE)WrestleMania III inPontiac, Michigan, as the ring announcer for the pay-per-view's main event ofHulk Hogan versusAndré the Giant. He returned in 1988 atWrestleMania IV as a ringside announcer, commentator during the openingBattle Royal and backstage interviewer.[27]
Known for his humor, particularly about his undistinguished playing career, Uecker actually became much better known after he retired from playing. Most of his wisecracks poked fun at himself. He once joked that after he hit agrand slam off pitcherRon Herbel (on June 21, 1967),[28] "When his manager came out to get him, he was bringing Herbel's suitcase."[29] On another occasion, he quipped, "Sporting goods companies would pay menot to endorse their products."[30]
He made some 100 guest appearances onJohnny Carson'sTonight Show.[31] Uecker hostedSaturday Night Live during its10th season on October 13, 1984.[32]
Uecker appeared in a series ofMiller Lite commercials starting in the 1980s. In one commercial from that decade, Uecker was seen preparing to watch a baseball game when anusher informs him he is in the wrong seat. Uecker pompously remarks, "I must be in thefront row", which became another of his catchphrases. The punch line was that Uecker's seat was actually in thenosebleed section. Since then, the farthest seats from the action in some arenas and stadiums have been jokingly called "Uecker seats". There is a section of $1 seating called the "Uecker seats" atAmerican Family Field, the baseball stadium of the Milwaukee Brewers. Referencing where Uecker sat in the Miller Lite commercials, these seats have an obstructed-view area (in the upper grandstand above home plate where the stadium's roof pivot comes together). Another of Uecker's catchphrases from the aforementioned Miller Lite "front row" commercial is, "He missed the tag!" which he yells with confidence from his seat in the top row of the upper deck of the stadium, far away from the action.[33]
Locally, Uecker lent his endorsement skills to several companies and products in Milwaukee, including theMilwaukee Admirals, Rank & Son Buick,Usinger's Sausage, theWisconsin Department of Tourism for its "You're Among Friends" campaign, and several road and bicycle safety campaigns for theWisconsin Department of Transportation. He was inducted into the Wisconsin Advertising Hall of Fame in 2017 by the United Adworkers Milwaukee, Local 99.[34]
Uecker authored two books: an autobiography,Catcher in the Wry with Mickey Herskowitz,[35] andCatch 222.[36] (The titles are wordplay on the novelsCatcher in the Rye andCatch-22.)
Uecker played the character of father andsportswriter George Owens on the 1985–1990 sitcomMr. Belvedere, appearing regularly.[37] He madecameo appearances as himself in the filmsO.C. and Stiggs, andFatal Instinct, and in episodes of the sitcomsWho's the Boss?,D.C. Follies, andLateLine. He was the voice of the "head of Bob Uecker" in theFuturama episode "A Leela of Her Own".[38]
Uecker played Harry Doyle, the broadcaster for theCleveland Indians (now Cleveland Guardians), in theMajor League film trilogy.[39] In the movies, Uecker's character is known for his witticisms and his tendency to become intoxicated from drinking during losing games, as well as downplaying poor play by the team for the radio audience: for example, in the first film he also coins another popular sports catchphrase "Juuust a bit outside", to downplay an extremely wild pitch from Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn (played byCharlie Sheen). Uecker received the role not because of his broadcasting history with the Brewers but because of his popularMiller Lite commercials.[40]
In 2021, Uecker made a guest appearance in theDisney+ seriesMonsters at Work where he voiced a parody of himself named "Bob Yucker".[41]
TheNational Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association named Uecker as Wisconsin Sportscaster of the Year five times (1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987),[42] and inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2011.[43]
Uecker was inducted into theNational Radio Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2003, he received theFord C. Frick Award, bestowed annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball". His humorous and self-deprecating speech was a highlight of the ceremony.[44]
In 2005, Uecker's 50th year in professional baseball, the Milwaukee Brewers placed a number 50 in his honor in their "Ring of Honor", near the retired numbers ofRobin Yount andPaul Molitor. Four years later, on May 12, 2009, Uecker's name was also added to the Brewers Wall of Honor insideAmerican Family Field.[45]
Uecker was inducted into the Celebrity Wing of theWWE Hall of Fame in 2010,[27] honored for his appearances at WrestleMania III and WrestleMania IV.
On August 31, 2012, the Brewers erected theUecker Monument outside American Family Field[46] alongside statues ofHank Aaron,Robin Yount andBud Selig.
Wisconsin GovernorTony Evers declared September 25, 2021, as Bob Uecker Day in honor of his 50th year broadcasting Brewers games.[47] Uecker threw out the first pitch in the game against theNew York Mets. But instead of throwing the ball to the catcher, he unveiled apitching machine and used that. Before the game, left fielderChristian Yelich presented a gift on behalf of the players, a pair of custom Nike sneakers with "Air Uecker" and "Get Up, Get Up" on one foot and "One Of Us" and "Just a Bit Outside" (see reference in the section above) on the other.[48]
Uecker and his first wife, Joyce (died 2015),[49] had four children: Leeann (1957–2022), who died of ALS in March 2022;[50][51] Steve (1959–2012), a cowboy, who died of complications ofSan Joaquin Valley fever;[50][52] Sue Ann; and Bob Jr.[50][53]
Uecker and his second wife, Judy, were married in Louisiana in 1976. They settled in the Milwaukee suburb ofMenomonee Falls.[54]
On April 27, 2010, Uecker announced that he was going to miss 10–12 weeks of the 2010 baseball season because ofheart surgery. His aortic valve and a portion of his aortic root were successfully replaced four days later, and he returned to broadcasting for the Brewers on July 23.[55][56][57] On October 14, 2010, the Brewers announced Uecker would again undergo heart surgery, this time to repair a tear at the site of his valve replacement.[58]
Uecker was diagnosed withsmall-cell lung cancer in 2023.[11] He died at his Menomonee Falls home on January 16, 2025, ten days shy of his 91st birthday.[11][59][60]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tom Seaver (in1989) | Leadcolor commentator, Major League Baseball on NBC 1994–1997 (withJoe Morgan) | Succeeded by Joe Morgan (solo) |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
