Beloved baseball broadcaster and actor Bob Uecker, who parlayed an unremarkable playing career into a decadeslong stint behind the mic and in front of the camera, died on Thursday, officials said.
He was 90.
“We are heartbroken to announce that Brewers icon & Baseball Hall of Famer Bob Uecker passed away today at the age of 90,” the Milwaukee Brewers said.
He was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer in early 2023, loved ones said.”Even in the face of this challenge, his enthusiasm for life was always present, never allowing his spirit to falter,” according to a family statement.
Uecker had been a fixture behind the mic in Milwaukee since 1971, though he’d cut back from a full-time 162-game schedule in recent years.
In addition to his half-century in a baseball press box, Uecker also left a mark on comedy with his memorable acting roles on the 1989 movie “Major League” and late 1980s sitcom “Mr. Belvedere.”
His deadpan call of a pitch thrown wildly off the plate by Charlie Sheen’s character Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn — “Juuuust a bit outside” — remains a favorite one-line joke to scores of baseball fans.
Uecker’s wry, self-effacing wit was on full display in a famed Miller Lite beer commercial in 1984 as he took a seat downstairs at a baseball stadium.
When an usher told him “You’re in the wrong seat buddy, come on,” Uecker famously replied, “I must be in the front row” — before ending up in the far reaches of the upper deck.
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