MILWAUKEE – Bob Uecker, the voice of his hometown Milwaukee Brewers who after a brief playing career earned him the title “Mr. Baseball” and Hall of Fame honors, has died. He was 90 years old.
The team announced Auker’s death on Thursday morning, calling it “one of the most difficult days in the history of the Milwaukee Brewers.” In a statement issued by the club, Uker’s family said he had “faced a private battle with small cell lung cancer” since early 2023.
“Even in the face of this challenge, his enthusiasm for life was always present, and he never allowed his spirit to falter,” the family said.
“His kindness, humility, and love of family and friends are what we will hold closest to our hearts.”
-Oker family pic.twitter.com/lggU2BdOSw
-Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) January 16, 2025
Our statement on the passing of Bob Uecker: pic.twitter.com/OGbzM8QL11
-Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) January 16, 2025
“Bob was the real deal: always the funniest guy in any room he was in, and always an outstanding ambassador for our national pastime,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We are grateful for this unparalleled baseball life, and we will never forget him. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to Bob’s family, his many friends throughout the game, Brewers fans, and the countless baseball fans he admired.”
Okker is best known as a colorful comedian and broadcaster who earned his nickname during one of his many appearances on Johnny Carson’s late night show.
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Uecker was a beloved member of the baseball community and a pillar of Wisconsin sports.
When the Brewers clinched the NL Central title in 2024, manager Pat Murphy threw his arm around Uecker in the locker room, pulling him tight as players held out their white corks, preparing to douse him with champagne.
“There’s no one — there’s no one — that embodies a champion the way this guy does right here,” Murphy declared as players chanted “UUUUUECK.”
“What an example for us to be with every day – Bob Uecker.”
After the Brewers were eliminated from the playoffs in 2024, he made a point of visiting the locker room and offering support to the players in a way only he could. Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich said afterward that the hardest part of the night was talking to Uecker because the Brewers knew how much the longtime broadcaster wanted to see Milwaukee win the World Series.
“I remember you saying that no matter how much time you have, it still never seems enough, and that rings very true today,” Yelich said Thursday. In a post on Instagram. “You will always thank me for my friendship, but the truth is that the fun was my own. I will miss you, my friend.”
Uecker signed his first professional contract with the Milwaukee Braves in 1956 and reached the major leagues in 1962. He lasted six seasons in the major leagues as a reserve player, 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.
He often joked: “Career highlights? I had two.” “I got an intentional walk off Sandy Koufax, and I got out of the rundown against the Mets.”
Uecker also became friends with 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 tainted with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Selig eventually brought Uecker into the broadcast booth. Uecker became the voice of the Brewers in 1971, the second year after the team moved from Seattle.
Uecker stayed with the club from that point on and became one of the Brewers’ most indelible figures. Former Brewers manager Craig Counsell grew up in the Milwaukee area and remembers spending summer days throwing a baseball on the roof and catching it while listening to Uecker’s radio shows.
“There is no single person in the history of this franchise who has been as iconic and important as Bob Uecker,” said Jeff Levering, a member of the Brewers’ broadcast team since 2015.
Even as his status as a celebrity grew across the country, Uecker relished the opportunity to continue inviting fans to games in his hometown.
“To be able to play a game every day all summer long 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 because I get mail from people telling me that. That’s part of the reward of being here, just to be recognized by the way you talk, the way you describe the game, whatever.”
Uecker was honored by the Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award in 2003 and spent nearly 20 minutes keeping the Cooperstown, New York, crowd of about 18,000 in stitches.
“I still – and this is not a bitter thing by any means – I still think I should have been involved as a player,” he joked.
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 groomed him to appear on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson. He became one of Carson’s favorite guests, appearing more than 100 times.
It was Carson who called Uecker “Mr. Baseball.” And the name stuck.
But Ucker’s comedy was only part of his abilities. His storytelling and warm delivery made it a natural for him to become one of the first color commentators on network television broadcasts in the 1970s with ABC. In the 1990s, he teamed with Bob Costas and Joe Morgan in the World Series.
From there, Uecker reached most households as one of the Miller Lite All-Stars in popular commercials for the Milwaukee-based beer brand, and later began his television acting career in 1985 on the ABC sitcom, “Mr. Belvedere.”
Uecker played George Owens during the successful 122-episode series’ six-year run, as a family patriarch and sportswriter in a household that brings in a butler who struggles to fit into an American household.
In part of a cast that kept things very close to home, Uecker also had a cameo role in the films “Major League” (1989) and “Major League II” (1994) as gruff broadcaster Harry Doyle in a disappointing film. The Cleveland franchise is finding a way to become a playoff contender.
“I guess I’m part of American folklore,” Okker told the Associated Press in 2003. “But I’m not a Hollywood guy. Baseball and radio are in my blood.”
His sarcastic description of the badly wayward pitch – “Juuuust a little outside!” – The film is still frequently repeated by broadcasters and fans in stadiums everywhere.
Uecker’s acting left some thinking he was more of a jokester than a serious baseball broadcaster, but his tenure and observations with the Brewers were spot on, especially when the games were tight. The games that weren’t close were just as entertaining, when Uecker would tell stories about other major league players, his career, and his hobbies as a fisherman and avid golfer.
“I don’t think anyone wants to hear someone screw around when you have a good game,” Uecker said. “I think people see Major League and they think Harry Doyle and they think that’s what Bob Uecker does. I do that sometimes, I do that. But when we have a good game, I don’t mess around.”
In his later years, he took a serious approach to his health, swimming daily before having heart surgery in April 2010. Doctors said that very soon after the procedures, Okker was back to walking several miles and was well ahead in his recovery.
He pushed for Uecker to return to the booth and began calling games again in July, saying he had bribed the doctors by letting them throw the first pitch.
“You’re talking about all the things Bob did, and he never wanted to leave Milwaukee,” Selig said. “Above all, he made himself a great announcer on every play. That’s what he did. He represents everything this franchise is and loves every minute of it.”
Ucker’s career provided him with most of his material. His former teammates said Okker would leave impressions on the other announcers on the bus, but Okker put himself in the spotlight after his playing career ended.
“I signed with the Milwaukee Braves for $3,000. That upset my father at the time because he didn’t have that kind of money,” he said. “But he eventually called it off.”
Another classic: “When I came to bat with three guys on and two on in the ninth, I looked into the other team’s dugout and they were already in street clothes.”
Uecker also presided over the exciting 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 up in the upper deck and were handicapped for $1.
The stadium, now known as American Family Stadium, has two statues in Ocker’s honor. There is a statue outside the stadium and another at the back of Section 422, a reference to the Miller Lite commercial in which he famously said: “I should be in the front row!” While transporting you to one of the worst seats in the stadium.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
