WISCONSIN — Former Major League Baseball player and famed broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers Bob Uecker has died, according to the Brewers. He was 90 years old.
“Today, we take on the heaviest of burdens. Today, we say goodbye to our beloved friend, Bob Uecker," the Milwaukee Brewers said in part in a statement. "Ueck was the light of the Brewers, the soundtrack of our summers, the laughter in our hearts, and his passing is a profound loss. He was the heart and soul of Wisconsin and a dear friend. Bob loved people; his presence warmed every room and he had a way of welcoming all of us into his world as if we were lifelong friends."
The Uecker family shared in a statement that the legend had faced a private battle with small cell lung cancer since 2023.
"Even in the face of this challenge, his enthusiasm for life was always present, never allowing his spirit to falter," the family said in part. “He brought joy to countless listeners through his wit, charisma, and love for baseball, Milwaukee, and all of Wisconsin, creating a legacy that will forever be cherished. While his contributions to the game are noteworthy, it is his kindness, humility, and love for family and friends that we will hold closest to our hearts."
Uecker was best known as a colorful comedian and broadcaster who earned his nickname, “Mr Baseball,” during one of his numerous appearances on Johnny Carson’s late night show.
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Uecker signed his first professional contract with the Milwaukee Braves in 1956 and reached the majors in 1962. He’d last six seasons in the big leagues as a backup catcher, finishing with a .200 average and 14 homers.
He won a World Series ring with St. Louis in 1964 and also played for Atlanta and Philadelphia.
“Career highlights? I had two,” he often joked. “I got an intentional walk from Sandy Koufax and I got out of a rundown against the Mets.”
Uecker also befriended former Brewers owner and MLB commissioner Bud Selig, who initially hired him as a scout. Selig liked to joke about how Uecker’s initial scouting report was stained with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Selig eventually brought Uecker to the broadcast booth. Uecker became the voice of the Brewers in 1971, in the second year after the team moved from Seattle. He remained with the club from that point on and became synonymous with Brewers baseball.
“I am heartbroken with the loss of my dear lifelong friend, Bob Uecker. I can’t begin to describe how much he meant to me, let alone what this loss is for Brewers fans, the state of Wisconsin and countless others worldwide,” Commissioner Emeritus of Major League Baseball and former Brewers Owner Allan H. “Bud” Selig said in a statement.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell grew up in the Milwaukee area and remembered spending summer days throwing a baseball against the roof and catching it while listening to Uecker’s broadcasts.
“There’s no single person in this franchise’s history who has been as iconic and as important as Bob Uecker,” said Jeff Levering, a member of the Brewers’ broadcast team since 2015.
Even as his celebrity status grew nationwide, Uecker savored the opportunity to continue calling games to fans in his hometown.
“To be able to do a game each and every day throughout the summer and talk to people every day at 6:30 for a night game, you become part of people’s families,” Uecker once said. “I know that because I get mail from people that tell me that. That’s part of the reward for being here, just to be recognized by the way you talk, the way you describe a game, whatever.”
Uecker joined the Brewers Walk of Fame in 2003. Over the years, he was recognized locally with several honors, including earning the Wisconsin Sportscaster of the Year five times. He was a part of the Wisconsin Performing Artists Hall of Fame, the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame and the Wisconsin Sports Hall of Fame.
Last year marked his 54th season broadcasting for the Brewers and his 69th year in baseball. He regularly made appearances on the field and in the locker room, participating in celebration when the Brewers won their NL Central title in 2023.
“Ueck” got his big break off the field after opening for Don Rickles at Al Hirt’s nightclub in Atlanta in 1969. That performance caught Hirt’s attention, and the musician set him up to appear on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson. He became one of Carson’s favorite guests, making more than 100 appearances.
Carson was the one who dubbed Uecker “Mr. Baseball.” And the name stuck.
But Uecker’s comedy was just a part of his abilities. His warm storytelling and delivery made Uecker a natural to become one of the first color commentators on network TV broadcasts in the 1970s with ABC. In the ’90s, he teamed up with Bob Costas and Joe Morgan for the World Series.
From there, Uecker reached most households as one of the Miller Lite All-Stars in popular commercials for the beer brand based out of Milwaukee and Uecker later launched his TV acting career in 1985 on the ABC sitcom, “Mr. Belvedere.”
Uecker played George Owens during the successful 122-episode run of the series that lasted six years, as the head of the family and sports writer in a home that brings in a butler who struggles to adapt to an American household.
In a bit of casting that kept things pretty close to home, Uecker also played a prominent role in the movies Major League (1989) and Major League II (1994) as crass announcer Harry Doyle for a down-and-out Cleveland Indians franchise that finds a way to become playoff contenders.
“I’m part of American folklore, I guess,” Uecker told The Associated Press in 2003. “But I’m not a Hollywood guy. Baseball and broadcasting are in my blood.”
His wry description of a badly wayward pitch — “Juuuust a bit outside!” — in the movie is still often-repeated by announcers and fans at ballparks all over.
Uecker’s acting left some to believe he was more about being funny than a serious baseball announcer, but his tenure and observations with the Brewers were spot on, especially when games were tight. Equally enjoyable were games that weren’t, when Uecker would tell stories about other major leaguers, his own career and his hobbies as an avid fisherman and golfer.
“I don’t think anyone wants to hear somebody screwing around when you got a good game going,” Uecker said. “I think people see ‘Major League’ and they think Harry Doyle and figure that’s what Bob Uecker does. I do that sometimes, I do. But when we’ve got a good game going, I don’t mess around.”
In his later years, he took a serious approach to his health, swimming daily leading up to heart surgery in April 2010. Very soon after the procedures, doctors said Uecker returned to walking several miles and was ahead in recovery.
Uecker pushed to return to the booth and began calling games again in July, saying he bribed the doctors by allowing them to throw out the first pitch. He had also limited himself to broadcasting home games for the last several years.
“You talk about all the things Bob has done, he never wanted to leave Milwaukee,” Selig said. “Above all, he made himself into a great play-by-play announcer. That’s what he did. He’s everything to this franchise and loves every minute of it.”
Uecker’s own career provided him most of his material. His former teammates said Uecker would do impressions of other broadcasters on the bus, but Uecker turned the spotlight on himself after his playing career was over.
“I signed with the Milwaukee Braves for $3,000. That bothered my dad at the time because he didn’t have that kind of dough,” he said “But he eventually scraped it up.”
Another classic: “When I came up to bat with three men on and two outs in the ninth, I looked in the other team’s dugout and they were already in street clothes.”
Uecker also presided over the stirring ceremony that closed Milwaukee County Stadium in 2000. When the Brewers’ new stadium opened as Miller Park in 2001, the team began selling “Uecker Seats” high in the upper deck and obstructed for a $1.
He also has two statues in his honor at the stadium, now known as American Family Field. One statue was dedicated in his honor outside the stadium in August 2012; a second one, located in the last row of the “Uecker Seats” on the Terrace Level, was created in April 2014.
The Brewers organization said it will provide details for a public celebration of Uecker’s life and impact at a later date.