MILWAUKEE — Bob Uecker’s Hall of Fame broadcasting career began only after the Milwaukee Brewers initially hired him as a scout.
Former Brewers owner and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said it didn’t take long to realize Uecker might be better suited for a different role.
“The first scouting report Bob sent back here had mashed potatoes and gravy all over it,” Selig recalled Sunday during a pregame ceremony honoring the man who broadcast Brewers games for 54 seasons, became a national celebrity for his trademark sense of humor and died Jan. 16 at the age of 90.
The star-studded celebration was hosted by former NBC broadcast partner Bob Costas and featured Hall of Famers George Brett, Ted Simmons and Robin Yount as well as Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich.
“To say he loved this team, this city, and this state would be an understatement,” the Uecker family said in a statement. “Milwaukee was his home, and the Brewers were an extension of his family. Seeing that love reflected back means more than we could ever put into words. There is something truly special about this community, and Bob felt it every single day.
“Thank you for welcoming him into your lives, for making him part of your families, and for holding him in your hearts.”
All the Brewers players wore special tribute uniforms with “UECK” instead of their own names on the back of their jerseys for Sunday’s game to honor the man who probably is more synonymous with the franchise than any particular player.
The entire team joined Uecker’s relatives behind the mound before Bob Uecker Jr. threw out the first pitch to Yount. The game featured commemorative baseballs and bases honoring Uecker.
The celebration of life comes with the Brewers owning the best record in baseball as they chase their first World Series title.
“Nobody would have enjoyed this more,” principal owner Mark Attanasio said. “I believe he’s still with us, but I really miss him.”
American Family Field’s broadcast wing above the press box was renamed the Bob Uecker Broadcast center. Uecker’s name already appeared on a medallion alongside all the Brewers’ retired numbers, but it was updated Sunday to include his name and a single microphone.
Memorabilia including photos and various examples of his plaid sports coats were displayed all over the concourses.
John Colson, a partial season ticket holder from Milwaukee, was already waiting outside the ballpark entrance well over 3 1/2 hours before first pitch.
“Bob Uecker was my entire childhood,” Colson said. “Just memories of listening to the games on the radio, coming to the games. Bob Uecker’s Mr. Baseball. He was Mr. Brewers. It’s not the same without him.”
Colson wore a T-shirt with the message, “Juuuust a bit outside,” honoring Uecker’s famous line as broadcaster Harry Doyle in the movie “Major League.” Other fans in the sellout crowd wore plaid sport coats or Brewers jerseys with Uecker’s name.
Uecker also was beloved by players who treasured his regular appearances in the locker room to swap stories or offer encouragement.
“Whether it was your first day in the big leagues or you’d been there for 10 years, he treated you as though you were his friend his entire life,” Yelich said. “I think that was one of his real gifts, making people feel like they were best friends and he’d known them forever.”
That meant treating even a player coming up from the minors no differently than an American president.
At a news conference before the pregame ceremony, Costas told the story of how former President Richard Nixon was watching a Brewers-Yankees game and asked Yankees owner George Steinbrenner if it would be possible to meet Uecker. After Uecker spoke to Nixon, broadcast partner Pat Hughes asked what it was like to meet the president.
“Ueck says, ‘You know, Richie’s not a bad guy,’” Costas recalled.
Uecker was best known nationally for the dry wit he showed on talk-show appearances with Johnny Carson and in the “Major League” movies, Miller Lite commercials and the television show “Mr. Belvedere.” Some of his “Mr. Belvedere” and “Major League” colleagues were on hand for this ceremony.
But the people honoring him Sunday also paid tribute to his baseball knowledge.
Although Uecker made his career .200 batting average a frequent target of his self-deprecating humor, Simmons said the broadcaster’s status as a former backup catcher gave him remarkable perspective. After the Brewers acquired him before the 1981 season, Simmons said Uecker offered pointers on handling Milwaukee’s pitching staff.
“I said, ‘You’ve got to tell me how these guys think, where they’re at because they need help and I need help,’” Simmons said. “That’s how we started out. From there, it was great.”
Costas and Selig said Uecker’s broadcasting skills were underrated. Selig said it was a treat to listen to the ninth inning of Uecker’s broadcasts in games the Brewers were winning.
“Most of the country outside of Wisconsin knows him from Johnny Carson and the ‘Major League’ films, but if he never said one thing that was funny and you just judged him as a baseball announcer — especially on the radio — Hall of Fame-caliber baseball announcer,” Costas said.
Costas specifically mentioned Uecker’s final sign-off after the Brewers allowed four runs in the ninth inning of a 4-2 loss in the decisive game of their NL Wild Card Series loss to the New York Mets. Uecker, who had battled small cell lung cancer throughout last season, closed the broadcast by saying “that one had some sting on it.”
“When you hear Ueck signing off — he didn’t always wear his heart on his sleeve — but it was so poignant,” Costas said. “He was disappointed for the team because it was such a heartbreaking loss. But he also knew these were the last words he’d ever speak as the voice of the Brewers, and his voice was not as strong, and he wasn’t quite as sharp, but it was still Bob Uecker. When you listen to that, even though he doesn’t frame it that way, that’s about as poignant a valedictory as any broadcaster has ever given.”
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