I’ll always remember the excitement in my seventh-grade teacher’s voice when she asked, “Oh my gosh! Are you reading ‘Catcher in the Rye’?”
“Yes!” I proudly responded.
“Wait … who’s that on the cover?” she asked.
I showed her my copy of Bob Uecker’s book: “Catcher in the Wry.” She seemed disappointed and walked away. I couldn’t understand why. Uecker was my hero, and his book was funnier than anything J.D. Salinger had ever written.
I grew up in Milwaukee, where Uecker wasn’t just a Hall of Fame broadcaster for the Brewers—he was a star. He appeared on “The Tonight Show,” had a role in “Mr. Belvedere,” stole the show in “Major League,” hosted WrestleMania, and delivered an unforgettable line in a Miller Lite commercial: “I must be in the front row!” During the 2020 pandemic-shortened season, the Phillies even placed a Uecker cutout in the last row of the third deck at Citizens Bank Park.
Uecker was beloved by Brewers fans in the same way Harry Kalas was cherished by Phillies fans, making his passing at 90 on Thursday even more heartbreaking.
In September 2021, I had the chance to get a photo with Uecker at American Family Field. I promised to keep it brief because so many people wanted a moment with him. But when I entered the Brewers’ radio booth, Uecker greeted me warmly. I introduced myself, and he responded, “Oh, I know who you are. How are ya?” He asked me several questions about the Phillies and even inquired about a few longtime Phillies staff members.
After we took the photo, I shook his hand and left. Immediately, I texted everyone in my family to share the moment.
A tribute to Mr. Baseball: Classic Ueck stories
In 2008, when I wrote a book about the Phillies, I had the chance to interview Uecker, who had played for the team in 1966-67. I found part of the transcript from that interview and wanted to share some highlights:
Uecker on the trade that sent him, Dick Groat, and Bill White from St. Louis to Philadelphia on October 27, 1965, for Pat Corrales, Art Mahaffey, and Alex Johnson:
“Of course, I was the main player in the deal. I didn’t want to go, but I thought, ‘Well, if I don’t go, it’s going to be the end for Dick Groat and Bill White.’ So that was the only reason I agreed to go to Philadelphia.
“It actually gave me one of the great thrills of my life, which was playing for Gene Mauch. I liked it over there. I liked Gene. I had never been around him all that much, but he was a unique individual. He was an outstanding manager.
“Gene took me around during Spring Training, my first spring when I got there. He took me around and showed me the pitchers. ‘See that guy over there, that’s Ray Culp. That’s Fergie Jenkins. I don’t think [Jenkins] can win in the big leagues. We don’t think he can win in the big leagues as a starter.’ I don’t even know him. That’s OK with me. I don’t think he can win with me as a starter, either.”
Uecker on Philly:
“I enjoyed my time in Philadelphia. We lived out at the Presidential apartments on City Line Avenue. Philly still is one of my favorite towns. It really is. The fans there are totally fanatic about baseball.
“I [completely fabricated a story] about being in Philadelphia: The only fight I ever had with a fan was in Philadelphia. The Philly fans get a little tough sometimes. This particular fan was on me for about four nights in a row. I don’t know why I was playing four nights in a row in the first place, but I was in the on-deck circle and they were really on me, so I dove into the seats and started throwing punches and everything.
I was happy I got it out of the way. The only problem with that was a lawsuit. I can remember walking into the courtroom, and she was sitting there with her attorney and still pretty well marked up.”
Uecker on Dick Allen:
“He’s one of my favorite people of all time. Dick and I used to hang around a lot. Richie was into horses. He loved horses. He told me that he was going to bring his horse down to the Presidential on a day off. I don’t know how he did it, but he did. He rode that horse down there.
He went through yards and everything else, but he got that horse down there to the Presidential apartments. I went outside and there he was, sitting on that horse. It was great. He’s one of my all-time favorite people. I have nothing but fond and great memories of Dick Allen.
“A couple of years ago I was in Philly. Richie came up to the booth to see me. He told me he’d come back in the seventh. So he did. He came back and shot the breeze for a while. Richie was more comfortable hanging around the grounds crew in Philadelphia.
They were having a reunion dinner. Richie’s wife was at the table, and he wasn’t around. So [former vice president of public relations] Larry Shenk asked me, ‘Have you seen Richie?’ I said I haven’t seen him for a while. But he was down there with the grounds crew guys, shooting the breeze with them, which is the way he always was. We used to sit in the back of the plane and harmonize, sing songs, me and Richie.
“We could sing, yeah. We were good. We’d sing those barbershop songs and harmonize. We were good. Nothing ‘American Idol,’ but some kind of idol. Buddha Idol.”
