Known to many sports fans and movie buffs, Bob Uecker died Thursday at the age of 90 from lung cancer.
Nicknamed “Mr. Baseball”, the man who played 297 major league games in six seasons during the 1960s had a much more brilliant career outside the playing field. Shortly after the end of his career as an athlete, he became a member of the Brewers radio commentary team; Uecker ultimately spent 54 seasons behind the microphone of his hometown team, the 2024 campaign having been the last of his life. As proof of his notoriety and influence, he received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.
“I cannot begin to describe how much he meant to me. […] Bob advocated the easiest approach to making others comfortable. He shared his laugh and everyone felt a little better being around him. He had no equal,” commented former major baseball commissioner and ex-owner of the Brewers, Bud Selig, on the club’s X account.
However, Uecker’s name goes far beyond the circles of his favorite sport. Americans have seen him many times on the small screen, particularly on the show Tonight Show hosted by Johnny Carson, who has invited him about a hundred times.
In fact, he was one of the most famous faces in the world of broadcast entertainment in the United States. So, just think of his sports journalist character in the television series Mr. Belvedere on the ABC channel or obviously, to that of the Cleveland Indians’ house announcer Harry Doyle in the trilogy Major League.
He also touted Miller beer in some advertisements. Even wrestling fans were able to see him in a striking backstage scene where the giant Ferré tried to strangle him with his huge hands.
