Milwaukee Brewers’ beloved ‘Mr Baseball’ Bob Uecker dies at age of 90

Bob Uecker, the voice of his hometown Milwaukee Brewers who earned the nickname “Mr. Baseball” and Hall of Fame honors during his career, has died. He was 90.

The team announced Uecker’s death Thursday morning, calling it “one of the most difficult days in Milwaukee Brewers history.” In a statement from the club, Uecker’s family said he had been suffering from small cell lung cancer since early 2023.

“Even in the face of this challenge, his enthusiasm for life was ever present and he never let his spirit waver,” the family said.

Uecker was best known as a colorful comedian and host who earned his nickname during one of his numerous appearances on Johnny Carson’s late night show.

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Uecker was a beloved member of the baseball community and a pillar of the sport in Wisconsin.

When the Brewers captured the NL Central title in 2024, manager Pat Murphy threw an arm around Uecker in the locker room and pulled him tight as players prepared to shower “Mr. Baseball” in Champagne.

“There is no one – there is no one – that embodies a champion like this man does right here,” Murphy proclaimed as the players chanted “UUUUUECK.”

Uecker signed his first professional contract with the Milwaukee Braves in 1956 and reached the majors in 1962. He lasted six seasons in the major leagues as a backup catcher, finishing with a .200 average and 14 home runs. He won a World Series ring with St. Louis in 1964 and also played for Atlanta and Philadelphia.

“Career highlights? I had two,” he often joked. “I was intentionally walked by Sandy Koufax and I got out of a rundown against the Mets.”

Uecker also befriended former Brewers owner and MLB commissioner Bud Selig, who initially hired him as a scout. Selig liked to joke about how Uecker’s first scouting report was smeared with mashed potatoes and gravy. Selig eventually brought Uecker to the broadcast booth.

Uecker became the voice of the Brewers in 1971, the second year after the team moved from Seattle. Uecker stayed with the club from then on and became one of the Brewers’ most indelible figures.

“There is no person in the history of this franchise who has been as iconic and important as Bob Uecker,” said Jeff Levering, a member of the Brewers broadcast team since 2015.

Even as his celebrity status grew nationally, Uecker relished the opportunity to continue calling games to fans in his hometown.

“If you can play a game every day all summer long and talk to people at 6:30 every day for a night game, you become part of people’s families,” Uecker once said. “I know that because I get emails from people telling me that. That’s part of the reward of being here, just to be recognized by the way you talk, the way you describe a game, whatever.

Uecker was honored by the Hall of Fame with the Ford C Frick Award in 2003 and spent nearly 20 minutes wowing the crowd of about 18,000 people in Cooperstown, New York.

“I still think – and this is absolutely not a sour grape – that I should have come in as a player,” he joked.

Uecker got his big break off the field after opening for Don Rickles at Al Hirt’s nightclub in Atlanta in 1969. That performance caught Hirt’s attention and the musician had him appear on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He became one of Carson’s favorite guests and performed more than 100 times.

Carson was the one who called Uecker “Mr. Baseball.” And the name stuck.

But Uecker’s comedy was only part of his abilities. His warm storytelling and delivery made Uecker a natural to become one of the first color commentators on network TV broadcasts in the 1970s with ABC. In the 1990s he teamed with Bob Costas and Joe Morgan for the World Series.

From there, Uecker reached most households as one of the Miller Lite All-Stars in popular commercials for the Milwaukee beer brand, and Uecker later launched his TV acting career in 1985 on the ABC sitcom Mr Belvedere. Uecker played George Owens during the series’ successful six-year run of 122 episodes, as the head of the family and sportswriter in a house that brings in a butler who has trouble adjusting to an American household.

Uecker also had prominent roles in the films Major League (1989) and Major League II (1994) as the crude announcer Harry Doyle for a down-and-out Cleveland Indians franchise that finds a way to become playoff contenders.

“I’m part of American folklore, I guess,” Uecker told the Associated Press in 2003. ‘But I’m not a Hollywood guy. Baseball and broadcasting are in my blood.”

His wry description of a poorly wayward throw: “Juuuust a little outside!” – in the film is still often repeated by announcers and fans at ballparks everywhere.

Uecker’s acting led some to believe he was a comedian rather than a serious baseball announcer, but his tenure and observations with the Brewers were spot on, especially when the games were tight. Equally fun were the games that weren’t, with Uecker telling stories about other major leaguers, his own career and his hobbies as an avid fisherman and golfer.

“I don’t think anyone wants to hear anyone messing around when you’re having a good game,” Uecker said. “I think people see Major League and think Harry Doyle and that’s what Bob Uecker does. I do that sometimes, yes. But if we play a good game, I don’t mess around.”

In his later years, he took a serious approach to his health, swimming daily leading up to heart surgery in April 2010. Soon after the procedures, doctors said Uecker returned to walking several miles and had a head start on recovery. Uecker pushed to return to the booth and began calling games again in July, saying he bribed the doctors by letting them throw out the first pitch.

“You talk about all the things Bob did, he never wanted to leave Milwaukee,” Selig said. “Above all, he has developed himself into a great play-by-play announcer. That’s what he did. He is everything for this franchise and loves every minute of it.”

Uecker’s own career provided him with most of his material. His former teammates said Uecker would do impressions of other broadcasters on the team bus, but Uecker turned the spotlight on himself after his playing career was over.

“I signed with the Milwaukee Braves for $3,000. That bothered my dad at the time because he didn’t have that kind of dough,” he said. “But eventually he scraped it.”

Uecker also presided over the stirring ceremony that closed Milwaukee County Stadium in 2000. When the Brewers’ new stadium opened as Miller Park in 2001, the team began selling “Uecker Seats” high up on the upper deck and block-blocking it for $1. The stadium, now known as American Family Field, has two statues in its honor from Uecker.

After the Brewers were eliminated from the playoffs in 2024, Uecker’s final season, he made sure to visit the locker room and offer support to players in a way only he could.

“That was quite tough. Everything else, it is what it is. … Talking to Ukie one on one was difficult,” outfielder Christian Yelich said at the time. “He means a lot. He means a lot. I’ve gotten to know him quite well over the past seven years. …He’s there. Just a great guy, a great guy.”