It’s just a bit outside.
But soon the retractable roof over America Family Field will open fully for a day ofalfresco baseball. And the Milwaukee Brewers’ longstanding broadcaster-turned-frontman has already begun making his way to the booth, chatting up every usher, security guard and casual fan in his path.
Bob Uecker is now 90 years old (?) but he bears a striking resemblance to the guy who played in the Major Leagues in the 1960s; spent time on Johnny Carson’s couch in the '70s; and made his true Major League breakthrough in the '80s, playing broadcaster Harry Doyle, the intoxicated version of Uecker.
To this day, Uke, as everyone in his considerable circle of friends calls him, remains self-deprecating about his baseball playing career. “Every day I went out there, I was a day closer to the minors.”
And he has kept up the level of joke-telling and storytelling that got him inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame. (If you haven’t seen this—the greatest induction speech in the history of ever—here are 15 or so minutes for your sheer viewing pleasure.)
Yes, let the debate rage: Is Uke the world’s most athletic comedian? Or sports’ funniest athlete? Regardless, he’s still at it. One hopes, anyway. When Pete Alonso’s late-game home run in the NL Wild Card series propelled the New York Mets over the Brewers, Uecker’s plaintive call had the ring of a man who may have narrated his last game. But until there’s an official retirement announcement, let’s consider him to be on the active spring training roster.
Uecker is one of those singular figures, you only wish could be replicated. By his own choice, and his own accord, he is more a local celebrity than a national one. He had ample opportunity to leave baseball’s smallest media market and amp up his star wattage. But he was born in Milwaukee, played in Milwaukee, found comfort in Milwaukee and said, ?
As his first boss, Bud Selig—also 90 years old, and also a Milwaukee native and still in town—puts it: “He’s part of the fabric, not only of the community, of the team, of everything about it. He means to Milwaukee what Robin Yount does, what our other great players do. And he was a local guy from Boys Tech who had this career in Hollywood and so-and-so. But he's one of [us].”
Late last summer, toward the final innings of his 54th season of calling Brewers’ games, Uecker sat down with. Here are some outtakes from that conversation, edited lightly for clarity and brevity.