Beloved baseball broadcaster and actor Bob Uecker, who parlayed an unremarkable playing career into a decadeslong stint behind the mic and in front of the camera,, officials said.
The man known as “Ueck” and “Mr. Baseball” was 90.
“Today we take on the heaviest of burdens. Today we say goodbye to our beloved friend, Bob Uecker,” the his employer since 1971, announced. “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 diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer in early 2023, loved ones said.
“Even in the face of this challenge, his enthusiasm for life was always present, never allowing his spirit to falter,” according to a family statement.
Uecker had been a fixture behind the mic in Milwaukee more than 50 years though he’d cut back from a full-time 162-game schedule in recent years.
In addition to his half-century in a baseball press box, Uecker also left a mark on comedy with his memorable acting roles on the 1989 movie “Major League” and later the sitcom “Mr. Belvedere.”
From 1985 to 1990, Uecker played sportswriter George Owens in six seasons of the ABC sitcom about a suburban Pittsburgh family of five and their British butler, who tries to make sense of various American absurdities.
Uecker appeared in all three films in the “Major League” franchise, stealing scenes as Cleveland broadcaster Harry Doyle. His deadpan call in the first movie, of a pitch thrown wildly off the plate by Charlie Sheen’s character Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn — “Juuuust a bit outside” — remains a favorite one-line joke to scores of baseball fans.
Uecker’s wry, self-effacing wit was on full display in a famed Miller Lite beer commercial in 1984 as he took a seat downstairs at a baseball stadium.
When an usher told him “You’re in the wrong seat buddy, come on,” Uecker famously replied, “I must be in the front row” — before ending up in the far reaches of the upper deck.
Uecker’s other forays into TV, entertainment and pop culture included:
- Multiple WrestleMania appearances, leading him to the.
- He for a Sports Illustrated shoot that appeared on May 19, 2008.
- He was , with musical guest Peter Wolf.
- Uecker was a regular guest on the “Tonight Show” stage of legendary late night host Johnny Carson.
After his first “Tonight” appearance, Uecker recalled Carson doubting his baseball credentials.
“As we said goodnight I heard Johnny ask Ed McMahon, ‘Did this guy really play baseball?'” he told the “Dan Patrick Show” in 2018.
Uecker’s desire to pursue a life on screen came from playing in his era of baseball, when run-of-the-mill performers like him had to work 12 months a year because between-the-lines salaries didn’t pay all the bills back then.
“You had to have it because there wasn’t enough money unless you were one of the big guys,” Uecker told Patrick.
Uecker’s greatest mark, of course, was left in the baseball press box where Uecker was one of the game’s most popular broadcasters.
In 2003, he was presented with, the sport’s highest broadcast honor.
In his Baseball Hall of Fame acceptance speech that turned into non-stop laugh track, Uecker reveled in mockery of his own MLB career.
In six big league seasons, Uecker batted .200 with 14 home runs in 297 games.
A modern baseball metric, wins above replacement (WAR), measures how many more victories a player brought his team as opposed to a minor leaguer in his place. Uecker’s lifetime a .
“I’d be sitting there and (Philadelphia Phillies manager Gene Mauch would) say, ‘Grab a bat and stop this rally,'” Uecker told a laughing audience. “(He’d) send me up there without a bat and tell me to try for a walk. (I’d) look down at the third base coach for a sign and have him turn his back on you.”
What Uecker lacked in on-the-field talent, he made up with clubhouse humor that made him a well-liked teammate that boosted morale at all times.
During his days as a catcher in the big leagues, Eucker was a member of the 1964 world champion St. Louis Cardinals.
“From Day 1, he came in and was screamingly funny. I mean screamingly funny,” Uecker’s 1964 teammate TimMcCarver once said. “To say that Bob Uecker was invaluable was understating things.”
Uecker and his teammates grasped the value of laughter even if the broadcaster’s own children didn’t.
“To make people laugh is a good thing,” . “I used to get questions from my kids about, ‘Why do you do that? Why do you talk about yourself the way you do?’ I said because it’s funny and it makes people laugh.”
