Bob Uecker, the Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster whom Johnny Carson dubbed “Mr. Baseball,” is dead at 90. He died of stem-cell cancer, which he had been battling privately since his diagnosis in early 2023, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Today, we take on the heaviest of burdens. Today, we say goodbye to our beloved friend, Bob Uecker,” the Brewers said in a statement shared on social media. “Ueck was the light of the Brewers, the soundtrack of our summers, the laughter in our hearts, and his passing is a profound loss. He was the heart and soul of Wisconsin and a dear friend. Bob loved people; his presence warmed every room and he had a way of welcoming all of us into his world as if we were lifelong friends.”
Uecker began his career as a player for the Milwaukee Braves, where he played from 1962 to ’63. Later, he played for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the Atlanta Braves, ending his professional baseball career in 1967. He then began his broadcasting career, becoming the voice of the Brewers from 1971 until 2024. “There’s no single person in this franchise’s history who has been as iconic and as important as Bob Uecker,” Jeff Levering, a member of the Brewers’ broadcast team, told ESPN.
In addition to his time with the Brewers, Uecker became known nationally due to his over 100 appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He also played a sportswriter, George Owens, on the ABC sitcom Mr. Belvedere from 1985 to 1990 and appeared in a series of Miller High Life commercials. Uecker was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2001, the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame in 2011, and received the 2003 Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame. “Bob is a terrific play-by-play man but his niche extends beyond baseball” writer Curt Smith told the Sentinel in 2003. “There are very few voices in baseball that have trespassed beyond the game itself. He’s one of them.”