Bob Uecker

Robert George "Bob" Uecker ( /ˈjuːkər/ ewk-ər; born January 26, 1935) is an American former Major League Baseball player, later a sportscaster, comedian, and actor. Uecker was given the title of "Mr. Baseball" by Johnny Carson. He is currently the announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers radio broadcasts on WTMJ and the Brewers Radio Network.

Playing career

Though he sometimes joked he was born on an oleo run to Illinois, Uecker was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.^[1] He grew up watching the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers at Borchert Field. He signed a professional contract with his hometown Milwaukee Braves in 1956 and made his major league debut as a catcher with the club in 1962. A mediocre hitter, he finished with a career batting average of .200. He was generally a sound defensive player and committed very few errors in his Major League career as a catcher, completing his career with a fielding percentage of .981. However, in 1967, despite playing only 59 games, he led the league with passed balls and is still on the top ten list for most passed balls in a season, though he spent a good deal of the season catching Knuckleballer Phil Niekro.^[2] Uecker also played for the St. Louis Cardinals (and was a member of the 1964 World Champion club) and Philadelphia Phillies before returning to the Braves, who had by then moved to Atlanta. His six-year major league career concluded in 1967.

Sports expertise outside of baseball

Uecker's sports expertise extends beyond baseball. He hosted two syndicated television shows, Bob Uecker's Wacky World of Sports and Bob Uecker's War of the Stars. The former has since become known as The Lighter Side of Sports (albeit with a different host, Mike Golic) and remains one of the longest-running syndicated sports programs in American television history.

Uecker also appeared in a series of commercials for the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League in the mid-1990s, including one in which he re-designed the team's uniforms to feature a garish plaid reminiscent of the loud sports coats synonymous with Uecker in the 1970s and 1980s. In February 2006, the Admirals commemorated those commercials with a special event in which the players wore the plaid jerseys^[3] during a game. The jerseys were then auctioned off to benefit charity.^[4]

Wrestling announcer

In March 1987, Uecker appeared at World Wrestling Federation's (now known as WWE) WrestleMania III in Pontiac, Michigan, as the ring announcer for the pay-per-view's main event of Hulk Hogan versus André the Giant. He returned in 1988 at WrestleMania IV as both a ringside announcer and backstage interviewer. One famous WrestleMania segment saw André the Giant choking Uecker.^[5] His introduction of Andre from WrestleMania III can be heard in WWE's signature introduction during each of the organization's television broadcasts and home video releases.

He was later inducted into the Celebrity Wing of the WWE Hall of Fame on March 27, 2010,^[5] by Dick Ebersol.

Honors

Uecker was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.

Uecker was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2003, he received the Ford C. Frick Award, bestowed annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball". His humorous and self-deprecating speech was a highlight of the ceremony.^[6]

In 2005, Uecker's 50th year in professional baseball, the Milwaukee Brewers placed a number 50 in his honor in their "Ring of Honor", near the retired numbers of Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. Four years later, on May 12, 2009, Uecker's name was also added to the Braves Wall of Honor inside Miller Park.^[7]

Popular culture

• He was the voice of the "head of Bob Uecker" in the Futurama episode "A Leela of Her Own."
  • Uecker: Mulligan drives the ball. It's going, going and caught by the shortstop. Mets lose again. Man, I haven't seen play this bad since the days of Bob Uecker! This is Bob Uecker, saying thanks for watching!
• Uecker appeared in a series of popular Miller Lite commercials. In one popular commercial from the 1980s, Uecker was seen preparing to watch a baseball game when an usher informs him he is in the wrong seat. Uecker pompously remarks, "I must be in the front row," which became another of his catchphrases. The punch line was that Uecker's seat was actually in the nosebleed section. Since then, the farthest seats from the action in arenas and stadiums have been called "Uecker seats".^[8] There is a section of $1 seating called the "Uecker Seats" at Miller Park, which is an obstructed-view area in the deep upper grandstand above home plate where the stadium's roof pivot comes together (in reference to one of his Miller Lite commercials).
• Uecker portrayed Harry Doyle, the broadcaster for the Cleveland Indians, in the Major League trilogy. In the movies, Uecker's character is known for his witticisms and his tendency to become intoxicated from drinking during losing games. Uecker received the role not because of his broadcasting history with the Brewers but because of his popular Miller Lite commercials. ^[9]
• Uecker played father/sportswriter George Owens on the 1980s sitcom Mr. Belvedere.

References

External links

• Baseball Hall of Fame - Frick Award recipient
• Uecker's bio on the Milwaukee Brewers' website
• Text of his Hall of Fame speech
• Bob Uecker Quotes
• Bob Uecker interview on OnMilwaukee.com
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Bob Uecker at the Internet Movie Database
• WWE Hall of Fame profile