Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Baseball. Beer commercials and late-night television. Major League and Mr. Belvedere.
Bob Uecker became a pop-culture fixture to multiple generations, going from a back-up catcher to a broadcaster, pitchman and actor, among many wide-ranging roles.
Add the Milwaukee Admirals to that list as well.
When it came to a self-described “ex-big leaguer” like Uecker, the Admirals were always in the front row with him.
Uecker, a Milwaukee native, passed away last Thursday at age 90 at his home in Menomonee Falls. His death prompted a flood of recollections for fans in Milwaukee, across Wisconsin, the sports world, and with the Admirals.
The Admirals’ relationship with Uecker went back more than three decades.
While playing in the International Hockey League in the early 1990’s, the Admirals found themselves looking for a way to generate publicity. Then-owner Lloyd Pettit, a former Chicago broadcaster who called games for the Blackhawks, Cubs, White Sox and Bears, and the front office reached out to Uecker. Would he be interested in starring in a commercial for the team?
Uecker was already the star of Miller Lite ads (“I must be in the front row!”), and was just a few years removed from his iconic role as broadcaster Harry Doyle in the 1989 hit movie Major League (“Juuust a bit outside”) as well as five seasons starring as George Owens on the ABC sitcom Mr. Belvedere. But if it meant helping Milwaukee and its hockey team, Uecker was on board.
“Bob was very, very open to the idea of being part of the campaign,” said Admirals president Jon Greenberg. “Part of his whole deal was, ‘I’m a Milwaukee guy. If I can do something to help Milwaukee, I will do that. This is fun. I’m totally into this.’
“He said it never felt like work.”
Despite his fame – including national broadcast work for ABC and NBC and more than 100 guest appearances on the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson – Uecker’s ties to Milwaukee never wavered. After a six-year MLB career that began with the Milwaukee Braves, he returned to the city in 1971 as a broadcaster with the Brewers. His irreverent sense of humor had already attracted attention during his playing days, and he settled into the Milwaukee broadcasting booth, a role that he would hold for 54 seasons. In 2003, Uecker was honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award for his contributions to the sport.
The first Admirals commercial went over well, and the team had themselves one of the most famous pitchmen in sports selling them. A series of spots followed, dubbed “The Adventures of Lloyd and Bob.” Pettit played the low-key, deadpan role to Uecker’s wise-cracking comic foil. Lloyd’s wife, owner Jane Pettit, and coach Phil Wittliff also participated.
Like Uecker, Greenberg’s Milwaukee roots are deep. In 1984 he became a bat boy for the Brewers; he eventually became the team’s media relations director. When Harris Turer, who held minority ownership in the Brewers, purchased the Admirals in 2005, Greenberg was tapped as the AHL team’s president.
In 2006, the Admirals took to the ice for a pair of games clad in jerseys reminiscent of the loud, plaid, 1970’s-era sport coats that had become one of Uecker’s trademarks. Greenberg still has one of those jerseys signed by Uecker hanging in his office. Through the years the two became friends; Greenberg still thinks back more than 40 years ago as he got to know Uecker.
“That’s as low as you can go,” Greenberg joked of being a bat boy. “But he treated the bat boys remarkably well. Bob was bigger than life for a lot of us. To feel like we were just one of the guys was a big deal.”
The Admirals want to make sure to thank Uecker for all that he did for the team and the city. This past weekend in Texas, the players’ helmets were adorned with a “Ueck” sticker. Milwaukee will also hold a moment of silence at this Wednesday’s home game, as the team works on ways to pay further tribute to Uecker.
After all, Greenberg explained, “Bob was all about Milwaukee.”
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
