Milwaukee Brewers play-by-play announcer Bob Uecker sits in the dugout while players workout at American Family Field in Milwaukee on April 6, 2022. Credit: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The baseball world was in mourning Thursday with the passing of Mr. Baseball himself, Bob Uecker.

While many around the country might know him for his work in “Major League” or in Miller Lite commercials, Milwaukee Brewers fans will always think of him as their radio announcer and a baseball icon.

The 90-year-old wasn’t just a legend amongst baseball fans. He was a legend to his fellow broadcasters as well. Tributes poured in from colleagues, contemporaries, and those he inspired with his quick-witted calls and comedic chops.

Bob Costas, a legendary baseball broadcaster in his own right, stopped by The Michael Kay Show on Thursday to share his thoughts on Uecker, saying the longtime broadcaster had a connection with Brewers fans that is so rare even for the biggest names in the business.

“He was one of a kind, and even that understates it,” said Costas. “What I think people who only know him on a national basis might not fully appreciate is how good a radio play-by-play man he was, even if he never said anything funny. Even without the Mr. Baseball persona. His calls were electric, and his relationship with that Milwaukee and that Wisconsin audience, which was built over half a century, was something really special.

“It’s especially true in baseball. The local announcement has a relationship with the audience that no national announcer could possibly have, no matter how good that national announcer is. It’s more true in baseball than it is in any other sport because of the day-in, day-out nature of it.”

While many play-by-play broadcasters didn’t play the sport they called, Costas says that Uecker’s playing career set him apart and helped him connect to Brewers players.

“Even though Ueck made a career out of poking fun at what an inept player he was, supposedly, lifetime batting average .200 and all the rest, the fact that he was a player endeared him to the Brewers players,” he said. “They considered him one of them. He often pitched batting practice in uniform well into his 70s. He loved being in the clubhouse. He had his own locker in the clubhouse. When the Brewers made the playoffs, they voted him a full share, which, of course, he then in turn sent to charity.

“Even a guy like Jack Buck, for example, or Vin Scully, really respected and beloved, or Ernie Harwell, anyone you want to name, beloved by the players and by everyone around the team. Somehow with Uecker, it was more than that. The players considered him one of them, and then almost incidentally, the team’s radio announcer.”

Costas also shared a funny anecdote about how he and Uecker would send each other texts and sign off by naming random players from the 1950s and ’60s.

Iconic baseball announcers, they’re just like us.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.