Home TV Reviews Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us Support Doux

A Tribute to Mister Baseball: Bob Uecker

“The biggest thrill a ballplayer can have is when your son takes after you. That happened when my Bobby was in his championship Little League game. He really showed me something. Struck out three times. Made an error that lost the game. Parents were throwing things at our car and swearing at us as we drove off. Gosh, I was proud.”

Bob Uecker, known affectionately as “Mister Baseball,” has passed away at the age of 90. While I’m not into sports, as someone who was born in Milwaukee in 1969 and a long-term resident of the state of Wisconsin, his loss has hit me harder than I would have originally thought. This article is my personal tribute to this Wisconsin icon.

I think many people will recognize him even if he’s not a household name outside his home state of Wisconsin. He was on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson 100+ times, was in many Miller Lite commercials from the 1980s, hosted Saturday Night Live in October of 1984, starred as the dad in the sitcom Mister Belvedere, hosted two WrestleMania events, was an actor and voice actor for various shows and movies, and possibly most well known for playing the announcer Henry Doyle in the Major League movies. I think all of this is great of course, but for Milwaukee natives like me, he is most beloved for being the announcer for 54 seasons of the Brewers, a fact that got him into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

I appreciate the fact that all I can find about him is positive, and the praise for him has been universal. I always worry that someone I admire has skeletons in their closet, but people all seemed to have loved the man, and in this day and age, I can genuinely appreciate that.

He started as a baseball player back in the 1960s, but wasn’t a great player, a fact he joked about since retiring and moving into broadcasting and acting. Part of why he was so beloved was his self-deprecating sense of humor that he was so well-known for. He has so many of these amusing quotes that it’s difficult to pick just a few to share. The quote I grabbed for the header of this tribute article was one I found particularly funny, but some other fun samples are:

“I think my top salary was maybe in 1966. I made $17,000 and 11 of that came from selling other players' equipment.”

“People have asked me a lot of times, because I didn't hit a lot, how long a dozen bats would last me. Depending on the weight and model I was using at that time – I would say eight to 10 cookouts.”

“When I came up to bat with three men on and two outs in the ninth, I looked in the other team's dugout and they were already in street clothes.”

I generally prefer the sarcastic wit of Monty Python or comedians like George Carlin and Lewis Black, but Uecker’s style felt very midwestern and very real. And watching some of his pieces on YouTube today, as the tributes and remembrances pour in, it made me realize just how much he meant to me, despite not being one who follows sports to any degree.

I was a kid in 1982 when the Brewers were in the world series and the excitement was felt even by me. I had a McDonald’s glass with Ben Oglivie and Robin Yount as part of that event that I kept for many years that I wish I still had, that’s how I can still recall that year so precisely, and you bet Mister Baseball was excited, even if the Brewers did not take the prize home that year and haven’t since. Part of me was already disheartened that my paternal grandfather, my last living grandparent until he passed in 2010, didn’t see his beloved team take home that vaunted prize, and now Bob won’t see it either.

He’s so beloved here that they’re turning his statue outside Miller Park/American Family Field into a shrine. His other statue, also at the park, is in the worst seat in the place, a nod to his ‘Front row’ seat from one of his better-known commercials.



I think this is why his loss feels more personal than most. I was sad to see Jimmy Carter, my third president, pass away recently, David Lynch of course also died on the 16th of this January, along with other losses over the years, but I miss Bob more than even Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, or Peter Cushing. I never met him, but I feel like I know him, so the loss hits hard.

If you haven’t seen him before, there’s lots of him on YouTube and I’m sure elsewhere. I only saw the first Major League movie, and it’s a good one, but he’s in all three films. I hope that whether you’ve known of him for years or just found out about him now, he makes you smile like I always do when I see him.

Farewell, Mister Baseball, you are dearly missed.

Morella is a Gen Xer who likes strange things a bit too much.

1 comment:

  1. My first exposure to Mr. Eucker was his book "Catcher In The Wry”. I bought it at a yard sale with the only knowlege being he was that guy on that show with the English butler. But after reading that book I quickly became a huge fan.

    And to honour Mr. Eucker I’m going to say “I didn’t buy the book but rather they paid me to take it because it was lowering their property value. It instantly was my favourite #2 read”.

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.