Milwaukee Brewers icon and baseball hall of famer Bob Uecker dies aged 90

Bob Uecker, the voice of his hometown Milwaukee Brewers who, after a brief playing career, was nicknamed “Mr. Baseball” and Hall of Fame honors, has died at the age of 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 battling 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 signed his first professional contract with the Milwaukee Braves in 1956 and reached the Majors in 1962. He would last 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.

He won a World Series ring with St. Louis in 1964 and also played for Atlanta and Philadelphia

Uecker also befriended former Brewers owner and MLB commissioner Bud Selig, who initially hired him as a scout.

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.

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

‘Ueck’ 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 arranged to appear with Johnny on ‘The Tonight Show’. Carson. He became one of Carson’s favorite guests and performed more than 100 times.

Uecker became the voice of the Brewers in 1971, the second year after the team left Seattle

Carson was the one who named Uecker “Mr. Baseball.’ And the name stuck.

Uecker’s 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.

In a bit of casting that kept things fairly close to home, Uecker also had a prominent role 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.

Uecker became one of Johnny Carson’s favorite guests and performed more than 100 times

Uecker later launched his TV acting career in 1985 on the ABC sitcom ‘Mr. Belvedere’

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.

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 in the upper deck, blocking them for $1.

The stadium, now known as American Family Field, has two statues honoring Uecker. There’s a statue outside the stadium and another in the back of Section 422, a nod to the Miller Lite commercial in which he famously said, “I gotta sit in the front row!” as you are taken to one of the worst seats in the ballpark.