Bob Uecker brought the Brewers to life for generations of fans. And that was just the start of a second career in entertainment that reached far beyond the ballpark.
Uecker, the backup catcher turned Hollywood star, and the legendary radio voice of his hometown team for more than five decades, has died. He was 90.
Uecker was a career .200 hitter but gained fame thanks to his quick wit. Nicknamed “Mr. Baseball” by “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson during one of Uecker’s 100 or so appearances on late-night TV, he starred in a popular series of Miller Lite commercials, then in the ABC sitcom “Mr. Belvedere” and in the “Major League” film trilogy. He authored two books, hosted “Saturday Night Live” and WrestleMania, and famously graced the pages of Sports Illustrated as a septuagenarian in a speedo.
But Uecker’s first love was baseball, and that never changed. Following six seasons in the Major Leagues with the Braves, Cardinals and Phillies, then a failed stint as a Brewers scout, Uecker’s voice became one of the sounds of summer in the Midwest. He joined the Brewers radio team in 1971 and launched a second career in broadcasting that led to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame, the Radio Hall of Fame, the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame, the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the 2003 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award.
That’s how a .200 hitter gets into Cooperstown.