Robert George Uecker died on January 16, 2025.
Bob Uecker.
I met him once when I worked at Mile High Stadium. The news of his death brought back that memory.
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Bob Uecker was known more for his sense of humor than for his skills as an MLB player. Off the field, his self-deprecating stories and one-liners were as sharp as any stand-up comic. On the field, he was a catcher with a career batting average of .200. (Yet, he is still known as "Mr. Baseball.")
In baseball, the pitcher throws to the catcher. If the catcher does not catch the ball and a baserunner advances because of it, there are only two possibilities that go into the record books forever for that game: 1) When the pitcher is at fault, it's registered as a wild pitch. 2) When the catcher is at fault, it's registered as a passed ball. Those are both official stats.
In 1967, Bob Uecker led the league in passed balls, despite playing in only 59 games.
There was a good reason for that; it wasn't all Bob's fault. When he played for the Braves, Phil Niekro was his teammate on the mound. Niekro is considered one of the greatest knuckleball pitchers in MLB history. Knuckleballs are thrown with as little spin as possible and are difficult to throw. But when you do it right, the lack of gyroscopic spin causes the ball to wiggle all over the place as it travels to the catcher. They're difficult for a batter to hit, which is the point. They're also difficult to catch.
Bob Uecker himself famously explained that the best way to catch one of Niekro's knuckleballs was to wait until it stopped rolling and then pick it up.
His charm and quick wit naturally led him into broadcasting, even acting in TV and films. He played a version of himself as a PA announcer in the Major League films and co-starred on the TV sitcom "Mr. Belvedere" for six seasons.
Perhaps the pinnacle of his broadcasting career was as the "Voice of the Milwaukee Brewers." Uecker was the play-by-play announcer for the Brewers for an incredible 54 seasons. You don't remain in a position for that long unless people really love you. In fact, Bob Uecker received the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame for his time in Broadcasting.
In his acceptance speech, he has the crowd laughing within the first 30 seconds. In short order, he's got the athletes and attendees in the crowd laughing to tears.
He is also famous for a beer commercial where he expects to reap the benefits of being an ex-pro baseball player with free tickets to a game but ends up in the nosebleed seats. That's just one of the many punchlines packed into these 30 seconds.
It was in 1986 that I met Bob Uecker.
The Denver Zephyrs were the minor league (AAA) baseball team that played home games in Denver for nine seasons, from 1984 to 1992. I worked them all. I ran the G.I.P. (Game In Progress) unit, the panel of buttons that put the numbers on the board for the Ball, Strike, Out, Score, Inning and Clock. Our scoreboard control room was located behind the glass in a climate-controlled suite on the 2nd level above the stands, just past first base. On one side of us was the football PA booth and the Denver Broncos press box. (Before it was razed in 2002, Mile High Stadium hosted baseball and football games.) On the other side of the control room were public suites where fans could watch the game from a place more luxurious than sitting out in the stands.
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On August 8, 1986, the Zs had a home game, and Bob Uecker was a special guest.
I remember it as a day game. Uecker would be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. He also participated in a pre-game ceremony that featured a joke based on his popular TV commercial about having seats in the nosebleed section. Earlier that day, a couple Zephyrs staff members tied a cluster of helium balloons to a seat way up on the 5th level of the stadium, beyond left-center field. After Uecker threw the first pitch, the Z's director got on the mic, told the crowd that we had special seats for Uecker and pointed to the balloons at the upper-most level of the stadium. Everybody had a good chuckle.
Uecker smiled at the knee-slapper and was being a good sport about it, but I could understand a joke like that becoming a little worn after the 1,000th time. After he walked off the field, the game began, and I started pressing buttons. We got word that after the pregame ceremonies, Bob Uecker and his small entourage had come up to press level and were watching the game from one of the suites down the hall from us.
Apart from the pregame featuring Bob Uecker, the rest of the game was uneventful and when it was over, I stayed, like I often did, to update some graphics and get the system ready for the following game. More often than not, I was the last person to leave our scoreboard control room on the second-level press box.
It is not uncommon to cross paths with a celebrity while working a sporting event, but when a celebrity is involved in a sporting event, they typically show up, do their thing (sing the anthem, throw out the first pitch, whatever), and then slide out of there after the game begins, when no one is paying attention.
When I was finally finished, I locked the control room door and took the walkway past the suite doors. From there, I would turn and cross above the concourse to the outer ramp that led to ground level and the stadium gates and the parking lot. There was no one left in any of the suites... except one.
As I approached that suite, I heard someone talking. As I passed by the open door, I caught a glimpse of three people, and one of them was Bob Uecker. I was stunned that he was still inside the stadium. He was facing away from me, talking to two other guys, but even from behind I knew it was him. I kept walking and turned to cross over the concourse. Then a thought began poking at me: Go back and say hi. Introduce yourself.
If you've ever encountered a celebrity, maybe you've felt the urge to approach them, but you didn't want to bother them. Or you didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t sound stupid. I was nervous just thinking about it and kept walking until something in me came alive and took over, and I did a 180.
As I walked back to his suite, I could still hear him talking, and it sounded like he was telling one of his famous funny stories. I couldn't make out exactly what he was saying until I reached the door, but as I turned and faced into the room, I heard the tail end of it, even though Bob had lowered his voice.
"...so I told the son-of-a-bitch to go screw himself."
The two guys he was talking to were facing him, and the door, and me. They both saw me and smiled at the timing of my entrance. Bob Uecker spun around and saw me standing there. It was obvious to everyone that I had heard him cuss.
When he looked at me, he didn't see money or a schedule he had to get to, he just saw a young, admiring fan standing in the doorway. A nervous kid who got up the guts to approach him in person.
"Hi, Mr. Uecker," I said nervously. The adrenaline hit and I continued on autopilot. "I work here at the stadium and I just saw you here and I wanted to just say hi."
Uecker was standing two steps away from me, his two buddies flanking him in the background.
"Well, it's good to meet you, Partner," he said, and we shook hands.
The two of us were both smiling knowingly, given the timing of his punchline.
That was it. It was quick, but I still remember it. As I walked away, I heard the three of them chuckling about the awkward timing of my entrance.
It felt good to leave the stadium without regret. I would've been kicking myself for days had I not summoned the courage for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to shake hands with Bob Uecker.
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He seemed like a genuinely nice person, someone everyone wants to be around. I'm glad he had a better-than-average life. He deserved it.
I'm gonna try to remember his example in my own life.
THE END_
More from the Denver Zephyrs
Great entry! Thanks for the story. I love Bob Uecker :)