Bob Uecker Passes Away at 90

[HaroldinGMinor]

It's impossible for me to see a home run and not think of his home run call.

[trwi7]

Baseball in Milwaukee will never be the same.

[tski1972]

I feel bad-for every other fan base they didn’t get to enjoy the greatest of all time call their games.

Gutted.

[ReasonablySober]

MLB.com has a really beautiful video on their home page.

[ReasonablySober]

Brisbee in the NYT/Athletic has a really great column.

This I never knew, and it's incredible:

Maybe the best way to explain it all is to look at the last game that Uecker played in the majors, in 1967. In the first inning, Bob Gibson took the mound, and he was one of those demigods, a magician with the baseball and an ornery, all-business personality that radiated into the crowd and through the TV, radio or newspaper. In the first inning, Gibson had to face Henry Aaron, another demigod and one of the greatest to ever play, with two runners on and nobody out. He struck him out looking.

Orlando Cepeda led off the next inning, and Roger Maris ended it. Curt Flood was in the game, not too long before he changed the sport forever off the field. He batted behind Ed Spiezio and Julian Javier, whose sons would eventually play and affect an entirely different generation of baseball players. When Uecker was unceremoniously removed from the game on a double switch, he was replaced behind the plate by Joe Torre, one of the few baseball players with a Hall-of-Fame-caliber resume as a player and a manager. Lou Brock entered the game as a pinch-hitter and popped out because sometimes the superstars and Hall of Famers don’t do anything. The game was eventually decided by a two-run double from Tim McCarver in the top of the 11th inning, and he’d eventually be a part of as many baseball memories as anyone else in the game.

It was a meaningless game, played with just a couple days left in the season, with the Cardinals on their way to 101 wins and a pennant that they’d clinched weeks before. But it was still important enough for Gibson to pitch nine innings and for the stars to stick around and take their at-bats in extras.

And there was Uecker, who wasn’t good enough to trust with the game on the line. He entered the game as a career .200 hitter, a nice round number that’s always going to be associated with futility and frustration. With one hit, he would have finished his career with a .201 batting average. He couldn’t get it, so he finished with a .1997264022 batting average. It rounds up to .200.

That’s all of baseball in a single game.

[humanrefutation]

You know, neither one of my parents were big sports fans - and even now, baseball has never been appealing to them. It was actually one of my uncles who was responsible for introducing me to the game. One of the things that hooked me was these cassette tapes he kept where he recorded some major Brewers moments - e.g. Ueck's call of the Easter Sunday Deer/Sveum HRs, or his call of Robin's 3000th hit, etc. He'd play them as he took me to Brewers games when I was a kid. The excitement from Ueck on those calls was palpable, and it isn't an exaggeration to say that Ueck is the reason I fell in love with baseball to begin with.

From there, I remember being a kid in the mid 90s when the Brewers were awful, sitting up next to my radio at 10pm listening to Bob regale the audience with so many funny stories as the Brewers found themselves down 12-3. Or listening to Bob call the Ryan Braun HR against the Cubs in 2008 as I raced home to catch the final innings. Or listening to him call Nyjer Morgan's series-winning single as I sat at a bus stop on my way home from a school event.

Uecker wasn't just the voice of the Brewers. He was Brewers baseball. As owners, players, and announcers moved on, Ueck was the only constant in Wisconsin sports over the last 50+ years. His passing is a major loss for this franchise and this state.

But a part of my childhood also died today, and it hurts.

[KidA24]

I uploaded one of my favorite random Uecker moments, this one from back in 2011.

Watch on YouTube

[MickeyDavis]

Read on Twitter

[KidA24]

https://joeblogs.joeposnanski.com/p/farewell-mr-baseball

[tski1972]

Read on Twitter

Heard this driving home from work that night, I was so pumped.

[ReasonablySober]

Read on Twitter

This is more inside than other also great tributes I've read today.

[MickeyDavis]

Read on Twitter

[spykelee]

Watch on YouTube

We must have quoted this 100 times in dugouts when I was a kid playing ball.

Jays fan here. I loved these movies and could and still do quote every Ueck'ism all the time. What an absolute legend and I only wish I could have been blessed to hear him call games for decades like Brewers fans have. RIP Bob. I'm gonna miss this guy for sure

[MikeIsGood]

Read on Twitter

[MiltownMadness]

We all knew the day was coming...

I don't even love baseball but Uecker is far bigger than baseball for me. Rest easy Legend

[humanrefutation]

The story about Hank Aaron and Bob Gibson calling Ueck when they were on their death beds just so he could give them a laugh on the way out was really affecting. That famous Cardinals photo where Ueck and Gibson sneakily held hands and got fined made me smile. That Ueck got to Bob Gibson, who was notoriously inaffable, really spoke to how good he was as bringing out happiness in those around him. It's a special and very rare trait in a person to have that kind of impact on those around them.

[ReasonablySober]

Just saw this in the comments of a blog, but how is the Mendoza line (career .215) not the Uecker line (career as close to .200 as you can get but be .200)?

[soboMP3]

This is honestly one of the toughest days in my life. Bob meant that much to me. I’ll never forget you, Bob.

[soboMP3]

Baseball in Milwaukee will never be the same.

Nope. That’s pretty much it.

[paulpressey25]

Our team has a 56 year history. And it is most well known for ——- its announcer.

But, I’m quite good with it.