In the parlance of the sports world, giving absolutely everything you have as a player is referred to “leaving it all on the field.” It could be the court or ice or any other playing surface, but the point remains the same. We don’t often stray and use this in other walks of life, but in the aftermath of the death of baseball legend Bob Uecker, that phrase really felt most fitting.
Bob Uecker left everything on the field when it came to life in the public eye. He lived nearly 91 years and lived life to its fullest.
He first entered the public eye as a catcher for the 1962 Milwaukee Braves, a high-profile ballclub that included three future Hall of Fame players in Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Warren Spahn, not to future MVP Joe Torre, who would go on to the Hall of Fame as a manager. Ueck would become slightly famous, eventually, for his self-deprecating humor regarding the lack of production in his MLB career. He hit .200 and ended up with -1.0 WAR in his career.
There’s no need to worry about pointing out the less-than-stellar career. He mocked himself far more than anyone else did. This level of self confidence and being able to playfully laugh at himself paved the way to his life as an immortal baseball personality — landing him in the media wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Yes, that Braves team had another Hall of Famer. Uecker got there through his career as a broadcaster. He started doing radio for the Brewers in 1971 and went all the way through last season, giving him a 54-year tenure. He’s Milwaukee through and through. He was excellent in the gig and worked his way up to doing color for ABC and later NBC. He worked multiple LCS and World Series.
Along the way, the personality is what got him noticed outside baseball circles. He started as a pitchman for Miller Lite, namely the “front row” commercials.
He even did one with (as?) Rodney Dangerfield.
Uecker also starred in the family sitcom “Mr. Belvedere” as a sportswriter. He hosted Bob Uecker’s Wacky World of Sports and Bob Uecker’s War of the Stars. He even got choked by Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania IV:
This all seemed to serve as a springboard for what will leave Uecker most memorable in the minds of many people — probably everyone outside the Milwaukee area — Harry Doyle.
Though the writer of the movie “Major League,” David S. Ward, didn’t specifically write the part for Uecker, Ward “concedes that he might have unconsciously written the role of Harry Doyle with Uecker in mind.” (via “The Making of Major League”)
Uecker’s performance as Doyle was immortal, including several ad-libbed parts and a litany of timeless one-liners.
How many people still say “Ju-u-u-u-u-ust a bit outside?” Personally, I’m partial to the second part of that one, “tried the corner and missed.” How about Doyle pouring himself a cup of Jack Daniels before the first pitch and then rubbing a touch of it behind his ears like it was cologne (this was one of the ad libs from Uecker himself)? There are plenty of one-liners that aren’t fit for print, though nothing was really totally over the line. It was all in good fun. His delivery was just so perfect. Here’s a nice compilation:
By no means is that exhaustive. Basically, you have to watch all of “Major League” and parts of “Major League II” to get the full Harry Doyle experience. He’s an immortal movie character.
To this day, you can find Harry Doyle t-shirts and there’s even a talking bobblehead. We once did an exercise with his name in the headline. Sandy Alomar Jr. once saw Uecker and said, “hey, it’s Harry Doyle!” at a batting cage in Cleveland (“The Making of Major League”). He’s a big part of what many consider the greatest baseball movie ever made.
He’s far more than Doyle, of course. Uecker mentored several other prominent radio broadcasters during his time in Milwaukee, including fellow Hall of Famer Pat Hughes. In 2018, the Brewers voted to give Uecker a playoff share and he donated the $122,000 to charity. Per MLB.com, this tradition continued with each subsequent Brewers playoff appearance. The players loved him so much they made him Air Ueck shoes:
Christian Yelich posted that the same day Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers declared Sept. 25 Bob Uecker Day. As part of the on-field ceremony, Uecker went to throw out the first pitch. After acting like he was warming up his throwing arm, he revealed there was a pitching machine to do the work for him.
That personality just never went away.
Given everything we’ve discussed, a celebration of the life of a man who left absolutely everything on the field of life is in order. Mourn, but also cherish. We had the pleasure of watching the public portion of an extremely full life, one which was rooted in, yet extended far beyond, baseball.
