The best Uecker eulogy I’ve read –

Pasting from the dick_nixon account on twitter – https://x.com/dick_nixon/status/1879921824831819987

Uecker is dead. No tribute can do him justice. He lived a long life, and was himself to the end. He went like I think he wished to go; quietly, without distraction to the team. But I want to offer some thoughts in what is a very upsetting time for many people.

He was a better ballplayer than he took credit for. He couldn’t hit, didn’t have a great arm. He worked that to the hilt. But he was a smart catcher. You don’t last as long as he did on personality. This came through in the broadcasts. You laughed but you always learned things.

His gift as a broadcaster was that he was incapable of being anything but himself. The guy who held hands with Gibson, played a tuba on the field, batted lefty for his baseball card. That was not an act. He was who he was.

But he said it took at least seven years for him to be comfortable calling games. He worked like hell.

Uecker's skill, honesty and work ethic are evident in his broadcasting tree. Think about that. Very few broadcasters have a tree. His partners have gone on to big job after big job. Pat Hughes is in the Hall of Fame. The Brewers are in good hands with Levering and Grindle.

Uecker was a real baseball man. There are few of those. Having played doesn't make you so. I'm talking about Berra, McGraw, Veeck, Cobb, Rickey, Stengel, Zimmer, Moe Berg. Baseball is water and air. Uecker was in the booth the day after his son died. His daughter died in the off-season, but he came right back. When he stopped going on the road, Uecker came to the park to help cut the grass. That he went quietly, and on top, is indivisible from his relationship to the game.

Uecker was a good family man, and he quietly did a lot of good works. But nothing mattered to him so much as being with the players. If one thing kept him going, it was that. For his 50th year with the team, the players gave him custom shoes that read "One of Us."

He wore them all the time. This was not sentimental or forced. Talk to players of all ages, backgrounds, they'd kill for Uecker. He was a marginal player who kept going. A smart one who knew when and where to give tips. He cheered them up after losses and got drunk when they won.

You can never sum up what Uecker means to Wisconsin, either. It goes beyond being "soundtrack of the summer." He was — is — remains — "Gemütlichkeit" made flesh. The spirit of the good life. He'll remain alive there like Davy Crockett in Texas.

Uecker entertained us. We learned from him. But we were really fortunate to have so many years with a man who we'd never seen before. As he'd surely agree, we didn't know where the hell he came from, or where he was taking us. But we always wanted to go with him.

One more thing. You’ve heard me say it. You judge a man by his friends. I don’t think Uecker had enemies, but among his friends were Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, and Bob Gibson. That speaks for itself.