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Bob Uecker, the longtime Milwaukee Brewers announcer whose humorous banter in the broadcast booth made him a late-night TV favorite and an occasional actor, has died at the age of 90.
The Brewers announced Uecker’s death Thursday on social media, with his family revealing in a statement that Uecker had privately battled small cell lung cancer since early 2023.
“Ueck was the light of the Brewers, the soundtrack of our summers, the laughter in our hearts, and his passing is a profound loss,” the Brewers said in a statement Thursday. “He was the heart and soul of Wisconsin and a dear friend. Bob loved people; his presence warmed every room and he had a way of welcoming all of us into his world as if we were lifelong friends.”
Following an admittedly mediocre career as a professional baseball player — including a brief stint with the then-Milwaukee Braves — the Milwaukee-born Uecker was hired as the Brewers’ radio announcer in 1971, a year after the team’s inaugural season.
Uecker remained a fixture on Brewers’ radio broadcasts for the next 54 years, including the 2024 season. Despite his forgettable playing career, Uecker was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003 as the winner of the Ford. C. Frick Award honoring broadcasters.
However, it was Uecker’s wit, humor, and storytelling — as well as his stint as a Miller Lite pitchman in commercials — that made him famous outside of Milwaukee: He reportedly appeared on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show over 100 times (Carson famously called Uecker “Mr. Baseball”), and later guested on David Letterman’s The Late Show. Uecker was also enlisted to host a 1984 episode of Saturday Night Live and was the source of a memorable Norm MacDonald story on Letterman.
Outside of late-night, Uecker co-starred for six seasons on the sitcom Mr. Belvedere, playing sportswriter and father George Owens, who employed the titular butler. On the big screen, Uecker played a variation of himself (Harry Doyle, play-by-play guy for the then-Cleveland Indians) in the Major League series:
“He was a national treasure,” the Brewers continued. “There is no describing the impact Ueck had on so many, and no words for how much he was loved. We are left with a giant void in our hearts, but also remember the laughter and joy he brought to our lives.”
