The Crane Pool Forum

Rest in peace, legend

Off to that great front row in the sky...

RIP

Last call.

He was a one of a kind original. I really enjoyed Uecker's color commentary and story telling during games. Funny guy.

RIP, I hope you get upgraded to the front row.

Ueck in 1986

Johnny: Some really exciting playoff baseball this year.

Ueck: Oh, yeah, that Mets/Astros game was terrific. You know, at the end of that game, Gary Carter, the catcher for the Mets, said he breaks about three cups a year, but he broke two in that game alone.

Johnny: Amazing.

Ueck: It really is, Johnny, because today the cups are made of metal. They didn't have those when I was playing.

Johnny: Really? What were your cups made of?

Ueck: Well, glass, mostly.

He made his name with that sorta schtick, but he never let it keep him from being a consummate pro as an announcer.

I had the pleasure of speaking with him.
It was on a talk radio show over 20 years ago (Bill Maser/ Art Rust Jr.?)
I told him I remembered he had been on the Braves with Lew Burdette, and asked him when he caught Lew, did he call for the spitter or did Lew let him know it was coming.
What followed was about three minutes of the funniest evasion you could ever hear.

RIP, Ueck.
I don't think there will ever be another like you.

Later

Gotta be one of the last surviving Milwaukee Braves, no?

Actually I see now that he didn't make his ML debut until he was 28 in 1962, so one could conceivably be a Wisconsin Brave and be not much over 80 y/o.
A 23 y/o coming up in 1965, for instance, would 'just' be turning 83 this year so there have got to be a couple still hanging on.
Still, Felix Mantilla, six months younger than The Ueck, was also a Milwaukee Brave so they are among a diminishing species.

A healthy total of 33 living Cream City Braves, including (unsurprisingly) a hardy number of them with Mets connections.

List of Living Milwaukee Braves Players

• Sandy Alomar, born October 19, 1943
• Felipe Alou, born May 12, 1935
• Ken Aspromonte, born September 22, 1931
• Howie Bedell, born September 29, 1935
• Wade Blasingame, born November 22, 1943
• Clay Carroll, born May 2, 1941
• Ty Cline, born June 15, 1939
• Chuck Cottier, born January 18, 1936
• Billy Cowan, born August 28, 1938
• Ray Crone, born August 7, 1931
• Jack Curtis, born January 11, 1937
• John DeMerit, born January 8, 1936
• John Edelman, born July 27, 1935
• Dave Eilers, born December 3, 1936
• Hank Fischer, born January 11, 1940
• Terry Fox, born July 31, 1935
• Frank Funk, born August 30, 1935
• Len Gabrielson, born February 14, 1940
• Eddie Haas, born May 26, 1935
• Bob Hendley, born April 30, 1939
• Lou Klimchock, born October 15, 1939
• Bobby Malkmus, born July 4, 1931
• Joe Morgan, born November 19, 1930
• Johnny O'Brien, born December 11, 1930
• Taylor Phillips, born June 18, 1933
• Claude Raymond, born May 7, 1937
• Phil Roof, born March 5, 1941
• Amado Samuel, born December 6, 1938
• Dan Schneider, born August 29, 1942
• Bill Southworth, born November 10, 1945
• Al Spangler, born July 8, 1933
• Joe Torre, born July 18, 1940
• Woody Woodward, born September 23, 1942

Torre had a full career (five seasons) for them before they headed south.

Two guys I would have bet my whole stake on no longer being among us: Chuck Cottier and the other Joe Morgan.

Bill Southworth: Makes his ML debut with the Braves while still a month shy of his 19th birthday on the last weekend of the 1965 season, the team's final one in Milwaukee.
He'd get 9 Plate Appearances over three games: a single and a HR (accounting for his only two ML RBI) in 7 ABs plus two HBP ... and then never played in the majors again.
So that's how you play for a team that left a city 59 years ago and still be ten months short of turning 80!

Six Miller Lite commercials.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2025/01/bob-ue ... rcials-ads

Later

I got the feeling he disliked being defined by the "Harry Doyle" role.

I'll miss that old timey way he called games. Almost like he was singing the play by play to you. Like Murph and Vin Scully. Announcers like that had a way of melting away every worry you were feeling.

TransMonk wrote: ↑Thu Jan 16, 2025 12:23 pm Last call.

So basically you're telling me that Pete killed Uecker.
No wonder the market for him suddenly dropped.

I remember him from Major League: Baseball to the Minors.