MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WSAW) – On Sunday, American Family Field was filled to the brim as the Brewers honored the life and legacy of Bob Uecker.
All baseballs used during the game had a custom Uecker print, and all members of the Brewers team wore custom jerseys with Uecker’s last name printed on the name plates.
The Brewers also debuted the newly named ‘Bob Uecker Broadcast Center,’ along with new Uecker memorabilia throughout American Family Field.
Uecker, sometimes called ‘Mr. Baseball,’ spent 54 seasons with the Brewers in his hometown of Milwaukee and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.
He had been battling small-cell lung cancer for two years before passing away at the age of 90 this year.
Uecker’s lifelong friend and Brewers Hall of Famer, Robin Yount, spoke at the celebration of life.
“He never changed throughout all those years. He just, he just loved making people laugh right, right to the end,” said Yount.
Yount said Uecker told him ‘he wasn’t afraid of dying, he just didn’t want to be there when it happened.’
Christian Yelich also spoke about all the memories he had shared with Uecker.
“That was the cool thing about Ueck, is like he made everyone feel like he’s known them forever,” Yelich said. “And was just there to hang out and tell stories and have a good time, laugh, and there was plenty of that over the years. And I think that’s what I’ll remember most. Whether you had been there for 10 years or you had one week in the big leagues. He knew who you were and came to talk to you, and gave you his time.“
Yelich said to know him was to love him. Yelich has been honoring his friend all season long, even debuting a custom Uecker tribute bat. That, with a little bit of Uecker magic, hit a homerun to take Milwaukee to their 13th win of their franchise-high 14-game win streak.
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