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The Milwaukee community reacts to the loss of legendary Brewers announcer Bob Uecker

Bob Uecker interviews Milwaukee Brewers Manager Pat Murphy before a game on April 27, 2024
Chuck Quirmbach
/
WUWM
Bob Uecker interviews Milwaukee Brewers Manager Pat Murphy before a game on April 27, 2024.

The Milwaukee Brewers say they will honor Bob Uecker at American Family Field next summer. The longtime broadcaster, who also developed a national following for his work on television and in movies, passed away this week at age 90. His family said Uecker suffered from lung cancer.

Uecker already received many honors over the years, including in 2021, when Gov. Tony Evers declared Bob Uecker Day in Wisconsin.

That afternoon, Uecker and others held a lengthy session with the news media. One story Uecker told was set in the early 1970s, when Uecker broadcast his first inning on his own. His partners had gotten up and left the announcing booth.

“This was really frightening, to do play-by-play by myself. And the engineer at that time finally said to me, ‘Bob, you’ve got to start talking. There are two outs.’ That’s a true story,” Uecker said, to laughter.

Uecker became a broadcaster after playing major league baseball for six seasons, including for his hometown Milwaukee Braves. He wasn’t a good hitter but was good defensively.

He often joked about his playing skills, turning self-deprecation into a career.

One of the wall televisions at Kelly's Bleachers Thursday had on a cable network's re-run of a Brewers game from a few years ago. Bob Uecker is shown in the Brewers announcing booth.
Chuck Quirmbach
One of the wall televisions at Kelly's Bleachers Thursday had on a cable network's re-run of a Brewers game from a few years ago. Bob Uecker is shown in the Brewers announcing booth.

Thursday afternoon, at Kelly’s Bleachers, a bar not far from American Family Field, customer John Garcia says Uecker was approachable.

“I met him a dozen times. Got a lot of autographs from him, stuff like that. And yeah, he’ll definitely be missed,” Garcia said.

Another tavern customer, Jerry Thomas, first wanted to repeat Uecker’s standard home run call: “Get up, get up, get out, gone!”

Then, Thomas also said he could relate to Uecker.

“He’s just an ordinary Joe that loved the game. Fun to listen to, had anecdotes from everywhere,” Thomas said.

Uecker also was known as a big booster of the Brewers, who paid him for his baseball announcing.

The "tributes" at the Uecker statue as of midmorning on Jan. 17, 2025.
Erik Thorne
The "tributes" at the Uecker statue as of midmorning on Jan. 17, 2025.

One of his wishes from that 2021 news conference was for the team to win a World Series.

“Some day that here, that we get a chance to celebrate a world’s championship,” Uecker said.

The Brewers have only made it to the World Series one time—in 1982, losing to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Now, the franchise on—and off—the diamond will have to see how it does without Bob Uecker.

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