MILWAUKEE — TMJ4's Lance Allan sat down with Mr. Baseball himself, Bob Uecker, and got to ask him a few fun questions about his life and his career.
Uecker, 88, has a long history with Milwaukee. He has been a play-by-play announcer for the Brewers for 52 years and before that, signed his first professional contract with the Milwaukee Braves in 1956.
"For me not to be here every day, I mean, it's what I've done for such a long time," Uecker said. "And then when somebody tells you you can't go to the ballpark anymore and you can't be with the guys in there, in the clubhouse, that's awful. That's terrible."
Uecker loves being back at the park, especially after an off-season where he had a right knee replacement, Covid-19, Melanoma, and his daughter passed away from ALS.
"Now everybody started paying attention to ALS," Uecker says. "Well, since 1939, despite everything that they do and the things that they're trying to do, the research and everything else, it's still a disease that takes a lot of people."
Uecker became emotional talking about his friend Hank Aaron.
"He was such a great friend too," Uecker says. "I mean, I still, you know, tough to know he's gone. But, I had a lot of great times with Hank Aaron."
But now with baseball and crowds back, Mr. Baseball is back in his element.
"I've had chances to go other places. I don't wanna go any place else. Never did," Uecker says. "I was born and raised here. I mean, where am I going to go?"
His celebrations have become social media sensations.
Allan asked him if he is amazed that they're as popular. He can cut a rug, he can dance, but is he amazed by that?
"I don't know. It depends on how many amphetamines I take," Uecker says. "No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Kidding! Kidding!"
All of this while keeping his trademark humor.
Allan asked him what's the most common or annoying thing that he usually hear shouted at him.
"Ah, 'you suck' would be good," Uecker says. "No, I'm kidding. Gaylord Perry says, no matter where we are, here comes the worst day of my whole life. It's not his baseball life. It's his whole life. Whole life, yeah. I hit a home run against him."
Uecker did Opening Day at Wrigley Field, but he really doesn't do many road trips anymore, adding he misses his friends in other cities.
Here are some more highlights from Allan's one-on-one with Uecker:
Favorite TV Show he's ever been on:
"Oh, I gotta say Mr. Belvedere. Belvedere ran for six years, that was a pretty good run when you consider TV shows," Uecker said.
However, he also gave The Tonight Show a shoutout, saying, "you know what, the tonight show was really good though."
Favorite play he's ever called:
Uecker shared several examples of his favorite calls.
"There's been so many good ones. Braun's home runs to sending them to the playoffs, Robin Yount's 3,000th hit," Uecker said, to name a few.
Do you still get TV and movie offers?
"Oh yeah, yeah. I had a chance to do a show in California. I just, it's too much," Uecker said. "It's time to kick back and do what I am doing here [at American Family Field]... I want to be around here. I don't want to take time off."
Are you amazed at the celebrations? That you still do that?
"I don't know. It depends on how many amphetamines I take. No, I'm kidding. KIDDING, kidding," Uecker said.
When talking about his iconic dance, which he calls the outboard motor, Uecker said, "It's spur of the moment stuff. I don' know why I do that or what makes me do it. You know these guys {the players], they start dumping cold beer on ya, you start moving."
What's your favorite Wisconsin non-Brewer team?
"I'm a Green Bay man," Uecker said. He went on to tell a story about how he and some teammates used to be able to go onto the field at County Stadium when the Packers would play there years ago.
