We lost a titan of the baseball and entertainment world yesterday with the death of Bob Uecker, the longtime voice of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Uecker passed away at the age of 90. A member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and a staple on Milwaukee TV and radio for 54 years, his legacy is indelible. Even someone who isn't very invested in the sport such as myself knew Uecker from a young age. My dad loves the Brewers, and even as a child, I was drawn to his laidback yet enthusiastic approach to calling the action.

Uecker's personality not only made him a magnetic draw for Brewers fans, but also entertainment fans as a whole. You can't talk about the Major League film series without noting how indispensable he was to the success of those movies. His trademark deadpan and comic timing was on full display in all three movies.

Tributes and loving sentiments from people in Wisconsin and beyond have poured out across social media en masse; all of whom devastated by the passing of the longtime voice of the Brewers. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel caught up with Mark Attanasio, the Brewers principal owner, who not only had loving words for Uecker, but also an unlikely friendship that began as soon as Attanasio assumed control of the team.

Today, we take on the heaviest of burdens. Today, we say goodbye to our beloved friend, Bob Uecker. Ueck was the light of the Brewers, the soundtrack of our summers, the laughter in our hearts, and his passing is a profound loss. He was the heart and soul of Wisconsin and a dear friend. Bob loved people; his presence warmed every room and he had a way of welcoming all of us into his world as if we were lifelong friends. - the Milwaukee Brewers' statement on the passing of Bob Uecker, per The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Even when he took control of the team for which Uecker broadcasted in 2005, Mark Attanasio didn't think Uecker would want anything to do with him. It was the wife of MLB Commissioner Bud Selig who pressured him to reach out. Uecker initially told Attanasio that he could spare 30 minutes. That meeting wound up lasting three hours:

He was one of [the players]. He has a locker downstairs [in the Brewers clubhouse]. My favorite celebration picture with all of us is one where he's in the front, champagne dumped on his head and with a cigar in his ear. He celebrated more than our biggest partying players, frankly, when we won - Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio on Bob Uecker, per The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Photo Credit: Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images
Photo Credit: Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images
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This upcoming Brewers season will take on newfound poignancy without the Milwaukee native calling the games. Uecker was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer in 2023. He passed away at his home in Menomonee Falls, WI on January 16th, 2025.

Attanasio speaks about Uecker not as an owner who lost an employee, but a man who lost a friend who contributed something special to his life:

I've known Bob 20 seasons now and he's added several years to my life. He brought out the best in all of us. And he's really the heart of Milwaukee baseball - Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio on Bob Uecker, per The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Read more about the passing of Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker on The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's website.

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Gallery Credit: Seth Berkman

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