This one..... ...... has "some sting on it".
Something drew me to listen to Bob Uecker's last call. I watched the game on TV, but after the brutal loss to the Mets in the playoffs, in a season that had some hope, again, there was heartbreak. As a Wisconsin sports fan, I'm no stranger to the implosions that often happen with our teams, and I usually turn it off and try to move on to something else. But, that night, that night I needed to find Bob's call. That call, so perfectly summed up my mind and how I was processing everything. Bob felt the moment, as he so often did ever since I was a kid.
"I'm telling ya......that one....had some sting on it"
He then signed off, listing the sponsors, but it was just there, like a period to the end of sentence. The call, from a man who so often made us smile and laugh, knew how to grieve with us, he was us.
The Brewers have always been a family favorite; I grew up with it, so I can't tell you the first time I really became a fan of Bob, he was just, always there. However, I can tell you my earliest memories of him are listening to him and Pat Hughes in the barn, on the farm I grew up on over 2 hours away from Milwaukee. WRCO in Richland Center carried the game, and growing up in the middle of nowhere, having something as exciting as Major League Baseball as a viable entertainment source was exciting. It wasn't a given to get the popular radio stations from either Madison or Dubuque, but we could always get WRCO, and on the radio hanging with dust and lime built up, came Bob Uecker's voice.
As a kid of the 80's and living in the middle of nowhere, to hear a real life star of television and movies talking through our airwaves was magical. George from Mr. Belvedere, Harry Doyle from Major League, Mr. Baseball himself on Johnny Carson, and one of my favorites, the host of The Wacky World of Sports. Hell, even though I didn't watch WWF (now WWE), I loved when I'd catch him on it.
Then, when the family went to County Stadium, after getting our concession items we'd walk through into the sunlight, the majestic beauty of a baseball stadium laid before me. After, the initial awe and wonder, I'd then grab the binoculars (we were always in cheap seats or bleachers) and look for my favorite players....there was Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Teddy Higuera was hopefully on the mound that day. After that rush, I made sure to find Ueck in the booth. There he was, broadcasting his magic. It seemed surreal to see him in action. Then, after the game, we all rushed back to the car to listen to the radio highlights that we missed while getting sunburns. If it was a good day we saw Bernie slide into the beer mug and we knew the call would be on in the car...
"Get up, get up, get outta here, GONE!!!"
What I described above, has never changed into adulthood, and I've sat in good seats now, where all I had to do, was look directly behind me to see that white hair, and just knew, it was a great day for baseball. As an adult, I learned to appreciate how he called games, he wasn't just the funny guy on the radio, he was a wealth of baseball knowledge, bridging the gap from the olden days to the new. I learned to appreciate just how damn good he was. If the game was close, he was one of the best calls of all time.....but sometimes, his best work was done when the game wasn't close, that was true radio gold. It's not often you go to listen to a baseball radio call and end up listening to 3 innings of cabinetry talk. Who else could talk about, and hang out with, the furry community. Have a lengthy conversation about them, in a respectful, yet hilarious way. Who else could take an advertisement, and make it the funniest thing you'd hear all day. I'll never forget him describing that you can in fact cook your Usinger's sausage while listening to the broadcast and driving your Harley Davidson motorcycle....it was simple, put the bratwurst in the tailpipe, let it cook in there. Once done, smother it with mustard and some cool crisp kraut....MM MMMMM, boy that's good stuff.
His humor was legendary, and over the last few days, I'm sure many of you seen his old clips from Carson, rewatched the clip of Norm MacDonald, one of the funniest people to have existed in my lifetime, talk in loving reverence of his and Artie Lange's time with Bob. Apparently he was a wizard of the cough button, something he certainly showed in the movie Major League. I'm not sure if I love Bob Uecker's dry, witty humor because it matches mine, or if he helped to shape it. Quick with a one liner, and savvy with a winding story, he knew how to keep you laughing, and he usually had to interrupt his stories with the baseball game...."anyways, the count is 2-2. ..... now, back to the pocket doppler".
Aside from the legendary humor and the celebrity, baseball was always first for him, Milwaukee baseball was his passion, the Brewers, his team. He is the voice of the most memorable calls in Brewers history, and is forever a titan, not just in Wisconsin, but in sports history. We were lucky to have a guy like Bob in Wisconsin, and we're spoiled rotten for having him.
Bob Uecker was the voice of my summers, and this summer will have a gaping hole in it....a hole so large that even Bob Uecker the player may have been able to poke a ball through.....well, maybe no hole is large enough for that.
To me, Bob Uecker was baseball, and I love baseball!
Rest In Peace Bob.
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