“Bob Uecker was America’s favorite broadcaster,” former MLB play-by-play announcer George Grande told The Epoch Times on Thursday, speaking about his late friend and colleague.
Former teammates, fans, media members, and stadium workers alike were saddened to learn of Uecker’s death Thursday at 90 years old. They'll miss his wit and wisdom, his knowledge of baseball’s intricacies, and his ability to connect with the common man who filled the seats in the ballpark.
According to a statement released by Uecker’s family, the former catcher had been battling cancer since 2023.
Those lucky enough to have interacted with Uecker from a broadcasting position, universally remember “fun times.”
The Milwaukee native made his Major League Baseball debut at 28, in April 1962, hitting against future Hall of Famer Don Drysdale.
That game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles began six less than stellar MLB seasons for Uecker.
But Uecker subsequently found his calling in a stellar broadcasting career, punctuated by iconic roles in movies and television. In the 1980’s, he also appeared twice at “Wrestlemania,” calling matches between Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan.
“He was simply the most enjoyable guy to be around,” recalled Grande, who co-hosted the first broadcast of SportsCenter on ESPN in 1979.
In 2003, Grande was with the Cincinnati Reds as the team’s play-by-play announcer. He went to Milwaukee a month before Uecker was to go to Cooperstown to receive the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award.
“The plan was to tape an interview with Bob,” Grande recalled. “And he was going to give our broadcast a preview of the acceptance speech he wrote. He was so funny, our crew was laughing so hard. We were rolling in our chairs. The guys loved hearing it.”
According to Grande, Uecker’s Cooperstown speech, delivered on Sunday, July 27, 2003, in front of 18,000 fans, was one of the best he witnessed in his 30 years as master of ceremonies for induction weekend.
“The Hall of Famers on the stage were laughing so hard, they had tears rolling down their faces.”
Grande added, “Everyone that knew Bob knew how much he loved the game, and cared about the players.”
In addition to his ESPN years, Grande spent seasons as the lead TV voice for the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and Cincinnati Reds.
As Grande remembers working road games in Milwaukee, the visiting teams’ broadcast booths were next to that of the Brewers’ radio team.
There was a camaraderie that Grande recalls with a smile in his voice. After the game and post-game show obligations, he would routinely share a beer with Uecker, just talking baseball for an hour, sometimes more.
“Bob was the kind of guy, if you met him once, you would feel as if he was your best friend,” Grande said.
‘I Must Be in the Front Row’
When asked about his career highlights as a player, Uecker famously said, “I had two. I got an intentional walk from Sandy Koufax, and I got out of a rundown against the Mets.”Before being released by the Atlanta Braves in October 1967, effectively ending his MLB playing career, Uecker celebrated a World Series win as a member of the 1964 St. Louis Cardinals.
In his role as a backup catcher throughout his tenures for clubs in St. Louis, Philadelphia, and with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, Uecker regularly found himself surrounded by talented teammates, such as Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Joe Torre, and Bob Gibson, all of whom went on to have Hall of Fame careers.
He began his broadcasting position with the Brewers in 1971, and was still calling games for the club in 2024, marking the second-longest continuous tenure with an MLB team among active announcers.
With a career batting average of just under .200, 14 home runs, and 146 hits spread over 297 MLB games, Uecker found it easy to make himself the butt of his own jokes during public speaking engagements and late night TV appearances in the 1970s and 1980s.
After he retired as a player, Uecker’s comedic talents were soon in-demand by Hollywood.
When not making audiences of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson laugh, Uecker was earning an opportunity to land his own network sitcom.
From March 1985 to July 1990, Uecker led the cast of ABC TV’s “Mr. Belvedere” as sportswriter dad George Owens.
Perhaps Uecker’s greatest claim to Hollywood fame was appearing in director David S. Ward’s “Major League,” and its two sequels, as heavy-drinking Harry Doyle, radio voice for the movie’s Cleveland Indians.
“Juuust a bit outside”—Doyle’s reference to wild pitches by Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn (played by Charlie Sheen) remains one of the most quotable lines of all-time in sports circles.
During baseball season, whenever Milwaukee batters hit home runs, Uecker’s excitement level reached its peak with his tag line of “Get up! Get up! Get outta here! Gooone!”
Uecker “had a pretty good run,” legendary MLB manager Jim Leyland said on Thursday, speaking to The Epoch Times from his home in Southwestern Florida. “Everybody loved him.”
In an ultra competitive industry like professional sports, it’s rare to find an individual like Uecker who is universally respected and admired. Fans cried in Milwaukee yesterday as they remembered “Mr. Baseball,” the man with an endless stream of stories.
