Uecker back behind mic for 53rd season
PHOENIX – Perched in his usual spot in the home radio booth at American Family Fields of Phoenix before a recent spring training game, Bob Uecker was asked how his offseason had gone.
“Well, my Guard unit got called up,” he answered with a straight face. “Saw a little action.”
Oh, really? And where was he stationed?
“Indonesia.”
Then came the patented laugh. Typical “Mr. Baseball.”
In all seriousness, Uecker's winter was mostly uneventful and – most important – healthy.
It was a welcome bounce back from a brutal end of 2021 and start to 2022 when within about a five-month period he had a knee replaced, had surgery for skin cancer, endured a bout with COVID-19 and finally, in the cruelest of blows, lost daughter Leeann Uecker Ziemer to ALS.
If ever anyone was due a low-key stretch heading into the baseball season it was the beloved Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster, who turned 89 on Jan. 26 and is now in his – how is this even possible? – 53rd season behind the mic.
“Winter was good. Everything was good,” Uecker said. “Spent most of the time out here, but it was cold. It's always good to get back with (Lane) Grindle and (Jeff) Levering and Kent (Sommerfeld, Uecker's radio partners and engineer). Get out here and start playing again.
“But I'm looking forward to getting back to Milwaukee. Getting home.”
That will come in time, with the Brewers opening their season March 30 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field and Uecker back in the booth at American Family Field for the home opener against the New York Mets on April 3.
Until then Uecker will continue to call Milwaukee's home Cactus League games in Phoenix as he has for so many springs. And no, he doesn't need any practice. “Roll out of bed and do it,” he said. “I could probably do it bed.”
That led to a conversation about how different spring training is from Uecker's playing days in the 1950s and 1960s and even decades later, when camp was used as a time for players to actually get themselves in shape and ready for the season.
Now, pitchers are training at home and in gyms with camera setups costing thousands of dollars, and position players are doing workouts under the tutelage of personal coaches, trying to gain any advantage they can.
Uecker was reminded of Ryan Braun, who used to state at the start of every spring that he needed only a few games to get himself ready for the season, such was the amount of preparation he'd already put in before arriving.
“It's funny with guys that can do that,” Uecker said. “The difference today is these guys work out so much and are together a lot of times during the offseason. They're in each others' backyards, when back in my time we had to have jobs. Most guys had jobs.
“You went to spring training and all you did was run for the most part. There was no weightlifting. Dumbbells were all you could have. Then you ran. “That's all you did.”
Not surprisingly, Brewers players love having Uecker around from the moment he first sets foot in the clubhouse. Usually that comes early in camp, and then he begins making the rounds.
“I remember when he came for the first time like, two to three weeks ago,” right-hander Freddy Peralta said. “I was so happy to see him, see his face, and he was happy to see me, too.”
They don't come much more cheerful than Peralta, who normally has a permanent smile on his face and a kind word for anyone he encounters.
But just the mere mention of Uecker widens that grin even more.
“He has high energy every day. He's bringing a happy face every day. He makes you feel the same way,” Peralta said. ”So, it's awesome to see him all the time – in Milwaukee, too. He always goes around to our lockers and visits us, trying to see what we're doing and how we're feeling.
“It's great.”
Peralta mentioned he knew Uecker is in his 80s but appeared stunned when informed he'll be 90 in less than a year. “Oh, my God!” he said.
Asked if he'd be as happy and energetic as Uecker when he reaches 89, Peralta said he would.
Then he put his hands together in prayer.
Turning to the product the Brewers are going to be putting on the field this season, Uecker noted the strength of the starting rotation as the major reason to believe.
Milwaukee, of course, is seeking a bounce back from last year's disappointing finish that left it on the outside of the playoff picture for the first time since 2017.
“If indeed that holds true to what they're talking about, I think it's going to be a decent year,” he said. “I don't see them having any problems without any major injuries.
“I think it's a good group of guys.” Uecker also brought up all the on-field changes Major League Baseball is enacting in an attempt to speed up the game.
Pitching timers, no defensive shifting, bigger bases – Uecker has thoughts on all of it but can't help but think back to his playing days, when starting pitchers would throw complete games in right around the 2-hour mark.
The early returns this spring have been markedly faster games – especially considering the number of player moves that take place in each one – but there remain questions in a number of areas.
“I'm interested in seeing how all these new rules work,” Uecker said.
Fans of Mr. Baseball should be happy to learn that there is also a documentary in the works about his life.
A film crew will be shadowing him at times and all sorts of his previous memorable moments, presumably from "The Tonight Show," "Mr. Belvedere," "Major League" and who knows what else, will also be interspersed throughout.
“They were working on me all winter,” Uecker said. “I didn't really want to do it, but they talked me into it.”
Lucky us.