Actor and Broadcaster Bub Uecker Has Died

(KNSI) — Legendary baseball player and play by play announcer and former actor Bub Uecker has died.

Uecker was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he not only played baseball but was also the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers. He was fortunate enough to call the 1982 World Series for local Milwaukee TV when the Brewers took on the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards took the series 4-3. Uecker was in the booth just last summer and would have called his 55th season this year.

Twins announcer Cory Provus cites Uecker as one of his mentors.

Before he put on a baseball uniform, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1954, where he played baseball with future fellow World Series champion Dick Groat. Uecker achieved the rank of Corporal before transitioning back to civilian life. That life took him back to the baseball diamond.

He played ball starting with the hometown Milwaukee Braves in 1956 and spent time in the minors with affiliate clubs before getting called up in 1962. He played backup catcher for the Braves and Cardinals, where he won a World Series ring in 1964. One of his career highlights was hitting a home run off Sandy Koufax in July of 1965. He jokingly said he worried that hit could keep Koufax out of the Hall of Fame. Uecker also donned colors for the Phillies and the Atlanta Braves before retiring 1967.

After baseball, Uecker stepped into the broadcast booth, and also took to both the big and small screen. He started as George Owens on the hit sitcom Mr. Belvedere for five seasons. He also made cameos on several programs, including Who’s the Boss? and Futurama, and in 2021, was cast in the Disney+ series Monsters at Work, where he voiced a parody of himself named Bob Yucker. Uecker was also cast as the voice of the Cleveland Indians as they were known back then, playing broadcaster Harry Doyle for the Major League film trilogy.

Twice in 2010, he had heart surgery, once missing 10 weeks of the season and again in October after the season was over.

Uecker was 90.

___