So long, Bob

Bob Uecker greets the crowd. 8/10/2025 dwm

 The Milwaukee Brewers said good-bye to Mr. Baseball Sunday with a special program honoring the life of Bob Uecker before the game.

 Uecker became a broadcaster with Milwaukee in 1971 and was behind the mic through the 2024 season. He died at the age 90 in January of this year.

 A local boy, he grew up in Milwaukee, was drafted by the Milwaukee Braves and played six years in Major League Baseball. After his playing career, he joined the Atlanta Braves broadcast team until the Brewers hired him.

Me with Ueck in the 'front row.'  9/8/2014

As a Brewer fan, I appreciated Uecker's wit and style in calling a game. He sounded like he was describing the game while sitting next to me. In addition to funny stories he was a top-notch play-by-play man recognized with his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.

One thing I heard after every games I listened to, often at WJVL when I ran the board during quite a few games in 1981, was how he closed each broadcast, "So long everybody, this is the Brewers Radio Network." 

Ball players of his generation and new kids joining the show loved him and among the Brewer players, all considered him part of the team in any era.

Network broadcaster Bob Costas was a friend and colleague of Uecker, he served as host and emcee of Sunday's program at the Brewers invitation. 

The program was set up like a talk show with Costas speaking to the guests on stage. Former Brewer owner and former Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, Brewer great and Hall-of-Famer Robin Yount, Christian Yelich who plays for Milwaukee now, Ted Simmons a catcher on the 1982 World Series team, current owner Mark Attanasio, and George Brett, a friend and contemporary of Yount's who represented players on other teams all shared memories and what they liked about Ueck.

Bob Uecker at Miller Park. 6/23/13 dwm

 I appreciated Simmons' comments. A Hall-of-Fame catcher, Ted spoke to Uecker as a former player. Uecker made a living down-playing his baseball career. He was, after all a career .200 hitter. But Simmons noted that being a back-up catcher for six years in the Major League was an accomplishment. 

 As a kid, I remember thinking about his self-deprecation, that he couldn't have been as bad as his stories made out, or his career wouldn't have been more than the proverbial cup of coffee.

 When last season came to an abrupt end at the hand of the New York Mets, only Uecker's closest friends knew that was likely the end of the ride and were sorry his career fell short of seeing his beloved team capture a World Series title.

 This year's edition of the Brewers has more wins than any team in the Majors. Because Milwaukee is a small market without the resources of teams in New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago, and playing better than the experts predicted, some of the team's performance is attributed to Uecker Magic.

 Uecker, left, with Robin Yount, center. 5/13/17 dwm

It's been fun hearing and reading stories about Ueck. Some were funny but most centered on Uecker's humble nature that sincerely appreciated his circumstance and how his life unfolded.

I don't have a story about Uecker. The closest I got to him was sitting in the stands twelve feet below and a few rows in front of what, is now known as the Bob Uecker Broadcasting Center.

The power of radio is that it's an intimate form of communication where the person talking can become a close friend; that's how I felt about Uecker. 

The men on the team paid tribute with UECK over the number on the back, demonstrating that while Uecker was one of them, they were with him. The jerseys will be sold at auction with proceeds going to Bob Uecker's favorite charities. 

It's too bad there wasn't any Uecker Magic in this game as Brewer closer Trevor Megill gave up a two-run single in the top of the 9th and the Crew couldn't score in the bottom half, losing to the Giants, 4 - 3.