Bob Uecker, Longtime Brewers Voice and ‘Major League’ Star, Dies at 90

Bob Uecker didn’t have to stretch much to play speedy outfielder Harry Doyle in the movie “Major League.” Milwaukee Brewers fans happily listened to that act for more than 50 years.

Uecker, whose humor made him a celebrity far beyond the baseball world, died Thursday at age 90, the Brewers announced. Uecker was the play-by-play voice of the Milwaukee Brewers dating to 1971, one of the longest runs by a single-team broadcaster in MLB history.

Fans outside of Wisconsin also knew Uecker, who rose to a level of fame rarely experienced by baseball radio broadcasters. He was on their television, appearing regularly with Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show,” and starring in the 1980s sitcom “Mr. Belvedere” or in Miller Lite commercials that remain memorable decades after they were sent. Many fans still recite Uecker’s best lines from his “Major League” character.

But at his core, Uecker was not a national star. He was Milwaukee, his hometown. Year after year, he returned to call games on WTMJ radio for what was usually a losing Brewers team. When the Brewers were bad, he could carry an entire season with his entertaining stories between plays. On the rare occasions when the brewers were good, he raised the stakes with his work as a broadcaster. Uecker’s broadcast earned him the prestigious Ford Frick Award in 2003, and he was presented with the honor at Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown. His speech by The Hall of Fame was legendary.

Uecker earned the nickname “Mr. Baseball” as a nod to his mediocre playing career. But after a lifetime of entertaining baseball fans, the nickname was actually quite fitting.

Bob Uecker was a television legend

Many of Uecker’s self-deprecating jokes stemmed from his big league career. He hit .200 during his six seasons playing catcher with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. One of his 14 major-league homers came off the great Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax. In typical Uecker fashion, he said he was concerned the homer would keep Koufax out of the Hall of Fame. Uecker also homered off Hall of Famers Ferguson Jenkins and Gaylord Perry.

One of Uecker’s favorite jokes was about his signing with the Braves in 1956. He would say he signed for $3,000, which upset his father because he didn’t have that kind of money to pay the Braves. No matter how many times he told the joke, it always got a laugh.

Uecker’s stories came out when he was on the air and the game was out of hand. He began broadcasting Brewers games in 1971, the team’s second year in Milwaukee. He was still calling their games more than 50 years later, albeit on a limited schedule as he reached his 80s. His style of mixing wit with excellent delivery as the game dictated never changed. He had his good jokes (about catching Phil Niekro’s knuckles, his advice was “to wait until it stopped rolling and just pick it up”), but he could go many games without repeating a story.

Many Wisconsinites grew up listening to Uecker call games on transistor radios. It was a tradition during the baseball season. Ask any Brewers fan of a certain age about Uecker’s call for a ninth inning Easter Sunday comeback in 1987, the team’s 12th straight win to start the season, and they’ll likely remember exactly where they were. Uecker is the biggest and most popular figure in Brewers history – and second place isn’t close.

At different points in his career, Uecker could have left Milwaukee for a bigger market. He worked for ABC and NBC and called several postseason games, including some World Series contests. He did not have a formal contract with the Brewers for most of his career, just a series of handshake deals with team owners Bud Selig and Mark Attanasio. Yet he always remained.

Milwaukee was happy to share their legend with the rest of the country.

Uecker gained fame through Johnny Carson

Uecker became famous beyond baseball mostly because of Carson. Uecker got his big break when he opened for comedian Don Rickles at musician Al Hirt’s Atlanta nightclub in 1969. Hirt set him up as a guest on Carson’s show, via CBS News. That led to more than 100 appearances at Carson over the years. Carson is credited with giving Uecker the “Mr. Baseball” nickname.

It opened doors for Uecker. The Miller Lite commercials (“I have to be in the front row” when Uecker is led out of his wrong seat, his sustained line from them) is a huge success. Uecker then took his fame to another level as Doyle in the 1989 film “Major League.” Spend enough time in a ballpark and you’ll inevitably hear his famous old line: “Yuuust a bit outside.”

For all the fame outside of the game, Uecker was a baseball lifer who happened to have a gift for comedy. That’s why he stayed on the radio in one of the smallest markets in the majors, calling games for a team that hasn’t been to the World Series since 1982. He stayed calling games through health scares, there i.a. two heart surgeries. He was so popular with Brewers players that they voted him a full playoff share of $123,000 from their 2018 postseason run. Uecker donated the money to charity. Few broadcasters are so synonymous with a sports franchise, and Uecker has a statue outside the Brewers’ stadium.

“I still enjoy playing the games,” he said in a 2020 interview with Bob Costas. “I still pull for us (the Brewers), every day. Every day. The other things I’ve done, it always came back to baseball. I’ve never wanted to do anything else.”

Baseball fans are happy that Uecker never got too big for the sport. Brewers fans are glad he was never too big for Milwaukee.