Bob Uecker Position: CatcherBats: Right • Throws: Right6-1, 190lb (185cm, 86kg)Born: January 26, 1934 in Milwaukee, WIHigh School: Technical HS (Milwaukee, WI)Debut: April 13, 1962 (9,559th in MLB history)vs. LAD 1 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SBLast Game: September 29, 1967vs. STL 2 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SBFull Name: Robert George UeckerNicknames: Mr. BaseballPronunciation: \YOO-kur\View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject Nine…
“People who are listening to the ballgame, I know what you’re thinking. He’s ready for the home. He’s cooked. It’s finally happened. He’s seeing ladders and doors without handles.” – BOB UECKER, explaining being trapped for several innings by a broken lock on the radio broadcast booth’s door.Bob Uecker, along with fellow broadcasters Joe Block and Jeff Levering, longtime engineer Kent Sommerfeld, and his assistant, Mary Burns, become trapped for several innings as the result of a broken lock on the Miller Park’s radio broadcast booth door. A crew of workmen, using a ladder positioned on the loge level, climbed into the booth to remove the door from its hinges, while the announcers’ play-by-play continued to detail the action of Brewers and Dodgers game on the field.
Bob Uecker, known for his humor on and off the diamond, is honored by the Brewers in a light-hearted dedication ceremony outside Miller Park that unveils a seven-foot bronze statue of the team’s popular broadcaster. The sculpture, depicting the smiling “Mr. Baseball” with his hands in his pockets, joins the likenesses of Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Robin Yount, and Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig in front of the ballpark.
Milwaukee Brewers TV/Radio play-by-play announcer Bob Uecker is chosen for induction into the broadcasters’ wing of the Hall of Fame as the recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award. The 68-year-old former back-up catcher, who joined the Milwaukee broadcast crew in 1971, is best known for the humor he has brought to the game through his starring role in the cult movie Major League and the beer commercial in which the phrase Must be in the front row! has become a familiar cry in ballparks around the country.
The night before the exhibition game scheduled to be played at Miller Park, team officials announce that the stadium’s retractable roof will be used only on a limited basis at the start of the season as engineers try to eliminate persistent noise coming from the year-old roof. The problem in the pivot system, located behind and above home plate in the so-called Uecker seats, is not a hazard, according to the engineers who designed the structure.
On June 21, 1967 Bob Uecker of the Atlanta Braves hits a grand slam for the only time in his career. It comes in the 3rd inning off Ron Herbel of the San Francisco Giants in a 9 – 2 Braves win at Candlestick Park.
1967 – Reliever Bill Short and right fielder Roberto Clemente preserve Pittsburgh’s come-from-behind, ulcer-inducing 5 – 4 victory over their cross-state rivals. Les Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press reports: “The Phils tried to get going after Pete Mikkelsen retired the first two batters in the 9th and what remained of the crowd of 4,979 stood in the aisles. Mikkelsen dared Richie Allen with a fastball and fanned him for the second out but Tony Gonzalez rammed a line drive into the right-center hole. Usually this is good for a double, maybe a triple if the ball gets through. But Clemente dived at the ball and came up throwing to second base as Gonzalez wisely stopped at first. Cookie Rojas followed with a single to left. Had Gonzalez’s ball gone through for a double, Rojas’ single would have scored him with the tying run. Bill Short came in to pitch to Johnny Callison and walked him on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases but then he got Jackie Brandt on a slow roller for the final out.” Pittsburgh pulls even in the game during Clemente’s two-out 7th-inning at-bat, but he is a mere spectator: a wild pitch from Larry Jackson and an errant throw from Bob Uecker account for the two equalizing runs.
1965 – The St. Louis Cardinals trade two of their mainstays, sending 1B Bill White and SS Dick Groat to the Philadelphia Phillies for OF Alex Johnson, P Art Mahaffey and C Pat Corrales. St. Louis also throws in C Bob Uecker.
Bob Uecker, who had been shagging out in left field, tries his hand at catching batting practice balls with a tuba when an unsuspecting member of a Dixieland band leaves it unattended. Much to the delight of the crowd, the comedic Cardinals backup catcher is successful in two of his six attempts to snag a fly ball in the mouth of the instrument, but the owner, who is not amused, asks the team for $250 to cover the cost of repairing the dented brass.
The Cardinals move past the faltering Giants into third place with a 5 – 4 win over the Braves. Former Brave‚ now Cardinals utility C‚ Bob Uecker hits his first home run of the year‚ then singles in the winning run in the 9th to win it for the Birds. St. Louis is 7 1/2 in back of the first-place Phils.