UPDATE: Turns out that Uecker is going to have his aortic valve replaced and his aortic root replaced on Friday morning. The surgery was described by his doctor as “relatively common.”
Trevor Hoffman, Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, Casey McGehee, Craig Counsell and Ken Macha were all at the presser, inspiring Uecker to say that “I’m part of the team.” Uecker added “I don’t ever want to quit . . . I look forward to coming to the park every day. That’s the highlight of the day.”
Excuse me, but it just got a bit misty in here.
3:12 P.M.: Adam McCalvy reports that Brewers’ broadcaster Bob Uecker is going to miss 10-12 weeks as a result of heart surgery, which he will undergo on Friday. There aren’t many details yet, but the Brewers will be holding a press conference at 4:30PM eastern.
Uecker is best known to most of you as Harry Doyle from “Major League,” or the dad from “Mr. Belvedere” or -- if you’re a bit older -- the character from those old Miller Lite commercials from the 1970s and 80s, which were really “This is SportsCenter” before “This is SportsCenter” existed. He did a great job in those roles -- and was absolutely killer on the “Tonight Show” back in the day -- so that’s totally cool.
But even if he had never become as famous as he has, Uecker would be known as a really a fantastic broadcaster. He’s held the job since 1971, and if you’ve never had a chance to take in a Brewers’ game he’s doing you’ve really missed out. I was unlucky enough to get stuck in Milwaukee on a miserable three-week trial several summers ago and the only thing that made those three weeks bearable was Uecker calling Brewers games every night. He’s got an easy delivery and demeanor that matches a midsummer night game absolutely perfectly.
Here’s hoping Uecker gets well and gets back to calling games as soon as possible.