Legendary Baseball Announcer And Actor Bob Uecker Dead At 90

Sports announcer, former baseball player, and occasional actor "Mr. Baseball" Bob Uecker has died (via MLB). He was 90 years old. 

Robert George Uecker was born January 26, 1934, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Swiss immigrants Gus and Sue Uecker, per the Society for American Baseball Research. He attended a technical high school where he played baseball and basketball. He didn't finish high school and enrolled in the Army at age 20, lying that he had played baseball for Marquette University (later saying, "Marquette didn't have a team but they never checked") in order to play military baseball, which he did in Missouri and Virginia. When his military service ended, he was signed to the Milwaukee Braves and played in the minor leagues for six years. He made his major league debut on April 13, 1962. A catcher, he was eventually traded to the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies before going back to the Braves, who had by that point moved to Atlanta.

Uecker's career as an active player ended in the spring of 1968, after getting in a bar fight in West Palm Beach, Florida, which resulted in a head wound that required 48 stitches. Soon after, he reaggravated an old motorcycling injury on the field and was released as a player and coach in April. Uecker would later write a memoir titled "Catcher In The Wry" about his time as a player and would often joke about his lackluster record. An entire section of "Uncle John's Fully Loaded 25th Anniversary Bathroom Reader" is devoted to his quips, including, "I led the league in 'Go get 'em next time!'"

Per Major League Baseball, a star was born when jazz trumpeter Al Hirt invited Bob Uecker to come onstage at a club he'd opened in Atlanta, Georgia. Hirt was so impressed with Uecker that he contacted late-night television host Johnny Carson and encouraged him to have Uecker on "The Tonight Show." Uecker became a regular guest on "The Tonight Show" and would go on to appear with Carson over 100 times. Carson gave him the nickname of "Mr. Baseball," which would follow him throughout his career. In 1971, Uecker started announcing games for the Milwaukee Brewers on both radio and TV. 

Despite being known for his antics in front of the camera, according to the Society for American Baseball Research, Uecker took announcing very seriously, later saying, "I had everything to learn and I spent ten years learning it ... I didn't try to wisecrack my way through it." He also noted that he was careful to never say anything negative or critical about a player on the air, noting, "I know how hard this game is to play." 

In 2021, Uecker announced his 51st season of Brewers baseball; per Major League Baseball News, he signed his very first contract with the team at the end of 2020 after 50 seasons of "handshake deals" in order to receive health insurance benefits. An April 2021 column for The Herald Bulletin called Uecker "the last of the timeless, and he's still going better than ever" noting he was "[s]harp as a tack, description out fast, excited when excitement strikes. Entirely present."

In addition to his decades as the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers, Bob Uecker was an actor as well as a nationally known personality. Per IMDb, he starred as a father and sportswriter on the sitcom "Mr. Belevedere" from 1985 until 1990. He made a series of well-loved Miller Lite commercials between 1982 and 1986 in which he was reduced to calling plays from the very worst seats in the ballpark after confidently announcing his seat "MUST be in the front row!" As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the line became an oft-repeated catchphrase and ballparks began referring to seats in their very upper decks as "Bob Uecker seats." 

Another catchphrase was born when Uecker appeared as baseball announcer Harry Doyle in the 1989 comedy "Major League;" his character's dry commentary that an exceedingly wild pitch was "Juuuuuuust a bit outside" still brings laughs. He also hosted specials like "Battle of the Network Stars" and "Bob Uecker's Wacky World of Sports" and even hosted "Saturday Night Live" in 1984, per the Society for American Baseball Research.

Bob Uecker was a member of the Radio Hall of Fame, the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame, and the National Association of Broadcasters Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2012. He was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award in 2003, which is presented annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame to a broadcaster who has majorly contributed to the game. A statue of his likeness was dedicated outside the Brewers'  American Family Field on August 31, 2012.

Bob Uecker is survived by his children Bob Jr., Leeann, and Sue. He was predeceased by his son Steve in 2012, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.