Wagnabbit: Here’s a bit of a eulogy to Bob Uecker

Bob Uecker made us laugh. The world needs more Bob Ueckers.

He died Jan.16, at age 90, after a “baseball career” that spanned more than seven decades, first as a professional player and then as a broadcaster.

Along the way, he dabbled in television, movies and comedy while hawking Miller Lite beer in creative TV commercials. He created new friendships with every venture. He never took himself too seriously, but he had a deep and serious affection for the game of baseball.

Uecker came up as a catcher, managing to land a contract with his hometown team, the Milwaukee Braves. He was called up from the minor leagues by the Braves in 1962 as the third-string catcher behind Joe Torre and Del Crandell.

In all, Uecker spent six years in the majors (from 1962-67), also playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves, “but he was a below average player who never attained stardom on the field,” said Eric San Juan of Legacy.com.

“However, what he did have was charisma and a sense of humor. Uecker’s wit did not go unnoticed, leading to his post-retirement transition into radio broadcasting in 1971. He quickly became a beloved announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers, earning the moniker ‘Mr. Baseball’ and becoming a mainstay in Milwaukee,” San Juan wrote.

Uecker was well known for saying his catchphrase: “Get up! Get up! Get outta here! Gone!” when a Brewers player hit a home run.

Uecker’s last broadcast was Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series between the Brewers and New York Mets on Oct. 3, 2024, ensuring his place among Major League Baseball announcers having the longest tenure.

With 54 seasons behind the microphone, Uecker is second in line, behind only Denny Matthews, broadcaster with the Kansas City Royals, who started in 1969 and is still active.

As the 2003 recipient of the Fred C. Frick Award for outstanding broadcasting, presented by the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., Uecker relished the opportunity to deliver an acceptance speech laced with humor.

He said his father came from Switzerland where he was involved in soccer. His dad blew up the balls “before they had an air pump.”

Uecker boasted about his .200 career batting average, putting him on par with the legendary Don Carter, who averaged 200 over a 10-year period. Carter was a bowler.

“The baseball shoes and glove manufacturers paid me not to use their stuff,” Uecker said.

He talked about his role as a member of the Cardinals’ 1964 team that won the World Series over the New York Yankees, 4 games to 3. As the backup catcher to Tim McCarver, Uecker got to warm up the St. Louis pitchers, including Bob Gibson, who won the series MVP award for his 2-1 record, 3.00 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched.

McCarver, who finished second in the MVP voting, batted .478 for the series with 11 hits.

(McCarver was so hot, it made no sense to take him out of the lineup, Uecker once told Johnny Carson, host of the Tonight Show. Carson and Uecker had chemistry. Uecker made some 100 guest appearances on the Johnny Carson show over the years.)

Back on the baseball diamond, the Braves organization left Milwaukee and moved to Atlanta in 1966. Atlanta traded for Uecker early in the 1967 season and named him as the personal catcher for knuckleball pitcher Phil Niekro.

“I was more like the personal chaser,” Uecker said. “I set a major league record for 27 passed balls in 1967.” (Niekro was responsible for 25 of them.)

Niekro credits Uecker will helping his pitching career get a jumpstart. “Ueck told me if I was ever going to be a winner to throw the knuckleball at all times, and he would try to catch it,” Niekro said. “I led the league in ERA (1.87).”

“Every time Niekro started, I went through the same ritual before the game,” Uecker said. “I took four aspirin for the headache I knew I would have afterward.”

Uecker commented that trainer Harvey Stone told a reporter that Niekro could probably pitch the next night, but general manager Paul Richards overheard him and said, “No he couldn’t.” When a writer asked if Niekro needed more rest, Richards said, “No, but Uecker does. Every time Niekro pitches, Uecker is the one who needs four days rest.”

Uecker joked that the only sure way to “catch” a Niekro knuckleball was “to just wait until it stopped rolling and pick it up.”

The acting career began with Uecker being cast in the family sitcom “Mr. Belvedere” that aired on ABC from 1985-90. The show starred Christopher Hewett as a posh English butler (Lynn Belvedere) who struggled to adapt to employment with the Owens household in suburban Pittsburgh, Pa.

Uecker played the breadwinner, George Owens, a sportswriter, while Ilene Graff portrayed Marsha Owens, who went to law school, finished and began practicing over the course of the show. The roles of their three children were played by Rob Stone, Tracy Wells and Brice Beckham.

As a sidebar story to the Bob Uecker obituary, Christopher Kuhagen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel included comments written by Tracy Tofte (formerly Wells), who is now working as a real estate agent in Los Angeles. She had kept in touch with the Uecker family throughout the years and often visited their home in Menomonee Falls, Wis.

“Even with a walker and on pain meds, he was cracking jokes and making me laugh,” Tracy said. “I’ll always treasure the memories from Mr. Belvedere – there were so many. Bob was the glue that held us together and kept us grounded. He never took anything too seriously, and his #1 goal was always to make us laugh.”

“Bob had a rare gift of making everyone feel special. He appreciated everyone – no matter their status. He was a truly good human, inside and out. He was my second dad, and I will miss him more than words can express. My heart also hurts for the entire family. I’m holding them all in my thoughts and sending love during this difficult time.”

“The Mr. Belvedere cast – Ilene, Rob, Brice and I – will all make sure Bob’s memory stays alive. He’ll always be a part of us,” Tracy promised.

“Ninety years and still gone too soon,” wrote Brice Beckham. “He never failed to make us laugh, and I count myself lucky to have called him ‘Dad’ for those five formative years. We’ll miss him as he takes his seat ‘in the front row.’”

That was a direct reference to Uecker’s series of Miller Lite commercials from the 1970s and ’80s. In one commercial, Uecker was seen preparing to watch a baseball game when an usher informs him that he is in the wrong seat. Uecker pompously remarks, “I must be in the front row.”

Uecker’s seat was actually in the nosebleed section. Today, there is a section of $1 seating called the “Uecker seats” at Milwaukee’s American Family Field (formerly Miller Park) referencing where Uecker sat in the Miller Lite commercials.

These seats in Section 422 have an obstructed-view area (in the upper grandstand above home plate where the stadium’s roof pivot comes together).

Major League Baseball.com writer Adam McCalvy said the Brewers decided in 2014 to put a statue of Uecker in the very last row.

“There was a serious component to the frivolity,” McCalvy wrote. “Statue designer Brian Maughan…included an extra seat next to the seated Uecker. The idea was that fans who made a donation to the Brewers Community Foundation or the Make A Wish Foundation would get to take their picture made alongside the likeness of Uecker.”

“The Uecker statue is made of bronze, and Uecker is shown wearing a bright blue shirt, tan pants and, as usual, a big smile.”