From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bob Uecker
Catcher
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 13, 1962 for the Milwaukee Braves
Final game
September 29, 1967 for the Atlanta Braves
Career statistics
Batting Average	.200
Home Runs	14
RBI	74
Teams
Milwaukee Braves (1962-1963) St. Louis Cardinals (1964-1965) Philadelphia Phillies (1966-1967) Atlanta Braves (1967)
Career highlights and awards
Ford C. Frick Award (2003)

Robert George Uecker ((IPA pronunciation: [ˈjuː kɹ], a homophone of the card game "Euchre") (born January 26, 1935 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American former Major League Baseball player, later an award-winning sportscaster, comedian and actor. Uecker jokingly identifies himself by the sobriquet of "Mr. Baseball".

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Broadcasting career 3 Humor 4 Acting career 5 Sports expertise outside of baseball 6 Wrestling Announcer 7 Honors 8 Popular Culture 9 Other quotes 10 References 11 External links

Though he sometimes joked he was born on an oleo run to Illinois, Uecker was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He grew up watching the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers at Borchert Field. He signed a professional contract with his hometown Milwaukee Braves in 1956. He made his major league debut as a catcher with the Braves in 1962. A mediocre hitter who finished with a career batting average of precisely .200, Uecker also played for the St. Louis Cardinals (and was a member of the 1964 World Champion club) and Philadelphia Phillies before returning to the Braves, who had by then moved to Atlanta. He closed his 6-year major league career in 1967.

After retiring as a player, Uecker returned to Milwaukee. In 1970, he began calling play-by-play for the Milwaukee Brewers radio broadcasts, a position he holds to this day, as of 2007. He also served as one of the first color commentators on network television broadcasts in the 1970s (for ABC's Monday Night Baseball) and 1990s (for NBC as he teamed with Bob Costas and Joe Morgan for telecasts). During that time, he was a commentator for League Championship Series and the World Series.

See also: Major League Baseball on ABC and Major League Baseball on NBC

Known for his humor, particularly about his undistinguished playing career, Uecker actually became much better known after he retired from playing. He had the most guest appearances of anybody on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, and appeared in a number of humorous commercials, most notably for Miller Lite beer, as one of the "Miller Lite All-Stars."

Uecker published two books, an autobiography entitled Catcher in the Wry (ISBN 0-515-09029-8), and Catch 222 (ISBN 0-399-13744-0).

Uecker also pursued an acting career, and played the part of George Owens during the successful five-year run of the television sitcom Mr. Belvedere in the 1980s. Uecker played a prominent role in the Major League movie franchise as Harry Doyle, the announcer for the team the movie is based on, the Cleveland Indians. A phrase is often quoted from this movie; "Juuuust a bit outside..." on a pitch that is several feet outside the strike zone. That clip began appearing in some DirecTV ads in the spring of 2007.

His sports expertise extends beyond baseball. He hosted two syndicated television shows, Bob Uecker's Wacky World of Sports and Bob Uecker's War of the Stars.

Uecker also appeared in a series of commercials for the Milwaukee Admirals of the American_Hockey_Leaguein the mid-1990s, including one in which he re-designed the team's uniforms to feature a garish plaid reminiscent of the loud sportcoats synonymous with Uecker in the 1970s and 1980s. In February 2006, the Admirals commemorated those commercials with a special event in which the players wore the plaid jerseys during a game. The jerseys were then auctioned off to benefit charity.^[1]

In 1987, Uecker appeared as a ringside announcer at WrestleMania III in Pontiac, Michigan, followed by a return in 1988 at WrestleMania IV as both as a ringside announcer and backstage interviewer, one segment saw Andre The Giant choking Uecker.

In the fall of 2006, WWE contacted Uecker to appear at WrestleMania 23 on April 1, 2007 in Detroit, Michigan. It was reported in Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE wanted Uecker to be involved in a sketch of some sort with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. The event will commemorate the 20th anniversary of WrestleMania III, in which Uecker participated. It is unknown if a deal has been reached.

Uecker was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2003, he received the Ford C. Frick Award, bestowed annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball." His humorous and self-deprecating speech was a highlight of the ceremony.^[2]

In 2005, Uecker's 50th year in major baseball, the Milwaukee Brewers placed a number 50 in his honor in their "Ring of Honor", near the retired numbers of Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. He is also honored in Miller Park with a section of $1 seating called the "Uecker Seats", which is an obstructed-view area in the deep upper grandstand above home plate where the stadium's roof pivot comes together (in reference to one of his Miller Lite commercials).

• He was the voice of the "head of Bob Uecker" in the Futurama episode "A Leela of Her Own."
  • Uecker: Mulligan drives the ball. It's going, going and caught by the shortstop. Mets lose again. Man, I haven't seen play this bad since the days of Bob Uecker! This is Bob Uecker saying thanks for watching!

• In a popular Miller Lite commercial from the 1980's, Uecker was seen preparing to watch a baseball game when an usher informs him he's in the wrong seat. Uecker pompously remarks, "I must be in the front row," which became another of his catchphrases. (The punch line was that Uecker's seat was actually in the nosebleed section.)

• There is a punk rock band from Milwaukee named in his honor.

“

I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Actually, I was born in Illinois. My mother and father were on an oleo margarine run to Chicago back in 1934, because we couldn't get colored margarine in Wisconsin. On the way home, my mother was with child. Me. And the pains started, and my dad pulled off into an exit area, and that's where the event took place. I remember it was a Nativity type setting. An exit light shining down. There were three truck drivers there. One guy was carrying butter, one guy had frankfurters, and the other guy was a retired baseball scout who told my folks that I probably had a chance to play somewhere down the line.

”

^[3] (This story also appears, albeit in quotation marks, indicating it was part of his "standup act", in his 1982 autobiography, Catcher in the Wry. However, that same book's appendix lists his career stats and his birthplace as Milwaukee, which agrees with every major publication.)

• "How do you catch a knuckleball? Wait until it stops rolling, then pick it up."

• "You know, I was once named Minor League Player of the Year...unfortunately, I had been in the majors for two years at the time.

• I had been playing for a while, and I asked Louisville Slugger to send me a dozen flame treated bats. But when I got it, I realized they had sent me a box of ashes.

1. ^ http://www.milwaukeeadmirals.com/home/news/7-4man-win
2. ^ http://www2.jsonline.com/sports/brew/jul03/158118.asp
3. ^ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/quotes/quouec.shtml

• Baseball Hall of Fame - Frick Award recipient
• Uecker's bio on the Milwaukee Brewers' website
• Text of his Hall of Fame speech
• Bob Uecker Quotes
• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
• Bob Uecker at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by Harry Kalas

Ford C. Frick Award 2003

Succeeded by Lon Simmons