The loss of Bob Uecker has some sting on it
I am not an easy cryer. I don’t remember ever crying over the loss of a singer, an actor or another public figure before. Losing Bob Uecker, however, is different. I suspect that’s true for a lot of people who listened to the Wisconsin-native and longtime Milwaukee Brewers radio broadcaster over the years.
Ueck was present in my ear throughout my entire life and his voice will echo forever in my mind. “Right down Wisconsin Avenue.” “Heeee struck him out swinging.” “Get up, get out of here, gone!”
But he wasn’t just a radio voice. He was so much more.
Bob Uecker was also everything great about the city of Milwaukee, the state of Wisconsin and America’s Pastime. He was Mr. Baseball.
See how today’s players, 60+ years younger than him, revered and idolized him. Read what former Brewers owner Bud Selig wrote about his friend. Watch clips of him making Johnny Carson laugh on The Tonight Show.
Chuckle at his move-stealing scenes in the ever-quoted Major League (“Just a bit outside!”). Revisit his iconic beer commercials on YouTube. Rewatch his hilarious Hall of Fame speech for receiving the Ford C. Frick Award in 2003.
He starred in a TV sitcom... I could go on and on.
Bob Uecker made everything better.
He made us feel on top of the world when the Brewers won. If we were at the ballpark during a big moment, we couldn’t wait until we got home so we could hear how he called the moment.
He carried us through losses, too. During the dog days of summer in losing seasons, he always had a story and he always had a joke.
No matter the score, we always won because we had Bob.
His loss adds an extra pain to his final call from last year, watching the New York Mets dramatically knock the Brewers out of a promising 2024 postseason.
"I'm telling you. That one -- had some sting on it," he said with so much heartbreak in his voice after the game.
Baseball seasons often end abruptly and harshly. But baseball fans always pick themselves up by saying “there’s always next year.”
Hope springs eternal in Baseball. But there won’t be a next year for Bob.
It was my hope that the team would have another shot at giving Uecker a chance to celebrate a World Series win—something the Brewers have never done. We wanted to experience it with him and through his voice.
I’m sure with the rhythm of a new season approaching I will find hope again, but without Mr. Baseball, it will never be the same.
CRAIG SAUER is a writer, communicator and former journalist living in Fitchburg, Wis. He is a life-long Milwaukee Brewers fan who has never seen his team play in the World Series. The last time the Brewers won a pennant was 1982. He was born in 1983.
