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Remembering Bob Uecker: 'The beauty of Bob' was the way he could connect with people

Bob Uecker throws a first pitch before Game 1 of the National League wildcard baseball game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Morry Gash
/
AP
Bob Uecker throws a first pitch before Game 1 of the National League wildcard baseball game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Bob Uecker, whose name is synonymous with Milwaukee Brewers baseball, passed away last week at the age of 90. Known lovingly as "Mr. Baseball," Uecker started on the field with the Milwaukee Braves and went on to become a star behind the microphone, calling Brewers games for more than 50 years.

His career extended beyond the baseball stadium to memorable and humorous appearances on late-night talk shows, commercials, and films like Major League. Uecker’s family said he had been battling lung cancer since 2023.

Kent Sommerfeld, producer and engineer of the Milwaukee Brewers Radio Network, worked with Uecker for 39 seasons, starting in 1986.He shares his memories of Uecker, starting with his first impressions of him.

“He said, ‘We’re going to have a job to do — and that’s going to be covering the baseball games and doing our job in the radio broadcast — but we’re going to have a lot of fun doing it,’” Sommerfeld recalls Uecker saying early on. “And that promise held up for all those 39 years that we worked together.”

With a quick wit and a knack for storytelling, Sommerfeld says Uecker was as funny off-air as he was when calling a game. He also remembers Uecker as a people person who touched many lives.

“That was the beauty of Bob, really, was the way he was able to connect with people — everyday people,” he says. “Whether you’re working the concession stands at the ballpark or you’re the president of the United States, Bob was able to connect with you.”

From veteran outreach to his work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Uecker’s quiet generosity and philanthropy left a profound impression on Sommerfeld.

“Some people that are famous want to do it because they want to get their name out there in this world of TikTok, Instagram, and everything else,” he says. “Everybody wants everybody else to know what they’ve done, but he sort of just did it quietly.”

Most of all, Sommerfeld will miss Uecker’s energetic, uplifting presence that “made people light up and brought happiness and ‘upness’ to people.”

Joy is a WUWM host and producer for Lake Effect.
Graham Thomas is a WUWM digital producer.
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