Milwaukee Brewers star Christian Yelich shared a deep friendship with legendary broadcaster Bob Uecker, who passed away at 90 earlier this year. He described him as a close friend whose presence is deeply missed.
Not just by him but also by the entire organization.
“I had gotten to know Bob extremely well over the last eight years. He and I were really good friends. He had amazing stories and lived an incredible life,” Yelich told Fox News Digital.
“Just getting to listen and talk about the game and be able to truly be friends with him, you know, I think I got to see him in a unique light that a lot of people necessarily didn’t, who didn’t really know him like that.”
The three-time MLB All-Star said Uecker would hang out in the lunch room with players and tell stories as only he could.
Bob Uecker – An Incredible Life
“Mr. Baseball” Bob Uecker passed away in January. He was 90 years old.
Uecker was one of the faces of our national pastime for decades, despite calling games for a relatively small market. Perhaps that small market allowed a unique relationship to grow between him, the players around him, and others who simply wanted to be in the orbit of a truly entertaining man.
“He was friends with some of the best players in the game,” Yelich told Fox. “He lived this incredible life, whether it was Johnny Carson or astronauts calling him from the space station on his birthday, being in the ‘Major League’ movies, he just had stories for days, and just getting to listen to those daily was something that was really, really cool.”
“Obviously, everybody with the Brewers and baseball and really all around the world, everybody misses Bob, and he lived an incredible lifestyle,” he added.
A person’s true character rarely breaks through on the television screen. But with Bob Uecker, you felt like he was someone you’d known your whole life. A guy you just wanted to have a Miller Lite with and watch the game.
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Just a Bit Outside …
Most people forget that Bob Uecker played major league baseball for five years. He won a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964, as they topped the New York Yankees, managed by Yogi Berra, in seven games.
He played two seasons in Milwaukee when the team was known as the Braves. But Uecker truly made his mark as a broadcaster for the Brewers, completing his 53rd season in the role last season. 53!
How great is it that he had the opportunity to share in Milwaukee’s locker room celebration after they clinched the National League Central division last season?
He described the scene and level of excitement as only he can.
“I peed my pants,” Uecker said.
Despite the extensive MLB experience, Uecker truly excelled as a comedy genius, parlaying his mediocre playing career into self-deprecating humor that made him a star of endlessly amusing commercials for Miller Lite and a frequent guest of the late Johnny Carson.
Then, of course, came Major League.
Bob Uecker’s willingness to put down his own abilities and become the lovable loser made him a natural fit to play announcer Harry Doyle in the classic sports movie Major League.
His one-liners became part of movie lore. The phrase “Juuuust a bit outside,” uttered by Doyle in describing a pitch about 5 feet off the plate, is still being used to this day by anybody who has ever played sports or tried to throw something and missed.
Admit it, you’ve heard it or said it yourself dozens of times.
Just everything about this scene is pitch-perfect, from the lines themselves to the delivery, which is all on Ueck.
“Vaughn into the wind-up in his first offering,” Uecker said as the pitch sailed wide by a lot. “Just a bit outside. He tried the corner and missed.”
“Ball four. Ball eight … Boy, how can these guys lay off pitches that close?”
Even before that famous line, Uecker elicits chuckles during the player’s introduction. “Vaugh, a juvenile delinquent in the off season …”
Bob Uecker – An irreplaceable man and a true American icon who will be missed. By Yelich. By the Brewers. By Major League Baseball, and all of America, really.
