2024-25 Announcer Thread

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/43439250/beloved-brewers-broadcaster-bob-uecker-dies-age-90

Bob Uecker has passed. He didn't cover hoops, but he was great. Not just as an announcer, but many know him from his "Major League" roles or his Miller Lite commercials. Since this thread subject doesn't include "basketball", I wanted to pay homage. Hope he's in the front row now.

9F
I grew up as a Brewers fan, mostly in the 1980s. I lived in a rural area of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (mostly Brewers and Tigers fans). The Brewers were rarely on TV (there, or anywhere really).

I listened to nearly every Brewers game on grandpa’s Montgomery Ward AM radio, which was about the size of a box of Girl Scout cookies. I must have broken its 4 ft long, 5 section telescoping antenna a dozen times just being a clumsy kid, trying to listen quietly in the dark in the basement so I wouldn’t keep grandpa awake. Bob Uecker’s voice almost felt like family to me because I was spending 10+ hours per week listening to those games in the summer. I didn’t even know what he looked like (I never made the connection that he was the same guy in the Miller Lite commercials or the guy on Mr Belvedere).

The downside of Duke being on TV pretty much nonstop for the past 30 years is that I never turned to radio for games, and I missed out on Bob Harris. I can imagine that many of y’all feel the same about Bob H. as I do for Bob U.

So as we gripe about Corey Alexander and Jay Bilas and the others, today I’m missing Bob Uecker and the voice I grew up with.

Grandpa died a couple years ago. But I think I’m going to head out to the Upper Peninsula soon for no other reason than to try to find that old radio.
 
I grew up as a Brewers fan, mostly in the 1980s. I lived in a rural area of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (mostly Brewers and Tigers fans). The Brewers were rarely on TV (there, or anywhere really).

I listened to nearly every Brewers game on grandpa’s Montgomery Ward AM radio, which was about the size of a box of Girl Scout cookies. I must have broken its 4 ft long, 5 section telescoping antenna a dozen times just being a clumsy kid, trying to listen quietly in the dark in the basement so I wouldn’t keep grandpa awake. Bob Uecker’s voice almost felt like family to me because I was spending 10+ hours per week listening to those games in the summer. I didn’t even know what he looked like (I never made the connection that he was the same guy in the Miller Lite commercials or the guy on Mr Belvedere).

The downside of Duke being on TV pretty much nonstop for the past 30 years is that I never turned to radio for games, and I missed out on Bob Harris. I can imagine that many of y’all feel the same about Bob H. as I do for Bob U.

So as we gripe about Corey Alexander and Jay Bilas and the others, today I’m missing Bob Uecker and the voice I grew up with.

Grandpa died a couple years ago. But I think I’m going to head out to the Upper Peninsula soon for no other reason than to try to find that old radio.
Thanks for this great post. It reminds me of listening to Braves baseball on radio in my youth. There was something magical about that and it is not replicated by modern TV and ESPN talking heads. I still often listen to baseball on the radio.
 
I grew up as a Brewers fan, mostly in the 1980s. I lived in a rural area of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (mostly Brewers and Tigers fans). The Brewers were rarely on TV (there, or anywhere really).

I listened to nearly every Brewers game on grandpa’s Montgomery Ward AM radio, which was about the size of a box of Girl Scout cookies. I must have broken its 4 ft long, 5 section telescoping antenna a dozen times just being a clumsy kid, trying to listen quietly in the dark in the basement so I wouldn’t keep grandpa awake. Bob Uecker’s voice almost felt like family to me because I was spending 10+ hours per week listening to those games in the summer. I didn’t even know what he looked like (I never made the connection that he was the same guy in the Miller Lite commercials or the guy on Mr Belvedere).

The downside of Duke being on TV pretty much nonstop for the past 30 years is that I never turned to radio for games, and I missed out on Bob Harris. I can imagine that many of y’all feel the same about Bob H. as I do for Bob U.

So as we gripe about Corey Alexander and Jay Bilas and the others, today I’m missing Bob Uecker and the voice I grew up with.

Grandpa died a couple years ago. But I think I’m going to head out to the Upper Peninsula soon for no other reason than to try to find that old radio.
Post of the day.
 
Here in the Piedmont (NC) I used to listen to KMOX for the Cardinal games. At night the sound came in clear as if it was from just down the street. I l loved to listen to Bob anytime he was doing any game. He'll be missed.

God bless and RIP
I did too.
Did you know that Bob was a reserve catcher on the 1964 World Series Champion Cardinals?
 
I did too.
Did you know that Bob was a reserve catcher on the 1964 World Series Champion Cardinals?
I did. If I remember correctly, Tim McCarver was the starting catcher. That starting infield of Bill White, 1b, Julian Javier, 2b, Ken Boyer, 3b, Dick Groat, ss, Lou Brock lf, Curt Flood, cf, Roger Maris, rf. The great Bob Gibson number 1 starter. I might be misremembering about Maris, because Mike Shannon was on that team I believe.

GoRedbirds!
 
I grew up as a Brewers fan, mostly in the 1980s. I lived in a rural area of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (mostly Brewers and Tigers fans). The Brewers were rarely on TV (there, or anywhere really).

I listened to nearly every Brewers game on grandpa’s Montgomery Ward AM radio, which was about the size of a box of Girl Scout cookies. I must have broken its 4 ft long, 5 section telescoping antenna a dozen times just being a clumsy kid, trying to listen quietly in the dark in the basement so I wouldn’t keep grandpa awake. Bob Uecker’s voice almost felt like family to me because I was spending 10+ hours per week listening to those games in the summer. I didn’t even know what he looked like (I never made the connection that he was the same guy in the Miller Lite commercials or the guy on Mr Belvedere).

The downside of Duke being on TV pretty much nonstop for the past 30 years is that I never turned to radio for games, and I missed out on Bob Harris. I can imagine that many of y’all feel the same about Bob H. as I do for Bob U.

So as we gripe about Corey Alexander and Jay Bilas and the others, today I’m missing Bob Uecker and the voice I grew up with.

Grandpa died a couple years ago. But I think I’m going to head out to the Upper Peninsula soon for no other reason than to try to find that old radio.
Thanks for the great post. I always like the reminiscing - it causes me to reflect and appreciate things long gone. This one caused me to recall listening to Add Pennfield broadcast Duke games on the radio prior to Bob Harris. Good times.
 
I did. If I remember correctly, Tim McCarver was the starting catcher. That starting infield of Bill White, 1b, Julian Javier, 2b, Ken Boyer, 3b, Dick Groat, ss, Lou Brock lf, Curt Flood, cf, Roger Maris, rf. The great Bob Gibson number 1 starter. I might be misremembering about Maris, because Mike Shannon was on that team I believe.

GoRedbirds!
Maris joined the Cardinals in 1966.
 
I grew up as a Brewers fan, mostly in the 1980s. I lived in a rural area of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (mostly Brewers and Tigers fans). The Brewers were rarely on TV (there, or anywhere really).

I listened to nearly every Brewers game on grandpa’s Montgomery Ward AM radio, which was about the size of a box of Girl Scout cookies. I must have broken its 4 ft long, 5 section telescoping antenna a dozen times just being a clumsy kid, trying to listen quietly in the dark in the basement so I wouldn’t keep grandpa awake. Bob Uecker’s voice almost felt like family to me because I was spending 10+ hours per week listening to those games in the summer. I didn’t even know what he looked like (I never made the connection that he was the same guy in the Miller Lite commercials or the guy on Mr Belvedere).

The downside of Duke being on TV pretty much nonstop for the past 30 years is that I never turned to radio for games, and I missed out on Bob Harris. I can imagine that many of y’all feel the same about Bob H. as I do for Bob U.

So as we gripe about Corey Alexander and Jay Bilas and the others, today I’m missing Bob Uecker and the voice I grew up with.

Grandpa died a couple years ago. But I think I’m going to head out to the Upper Peninsula soon for no other reason than to try to find that old radio.
I still miss hearing Jon Miller do Orioles games. The good news is that the Nats' radio announcers are awfully good, unlike the team.
 
Funny, but I can still remember from decades ago Jon Miller was doing an Orioles game (must have been tv though), and Bo Jackson, ex-All-American Auburn football running back who moved to major league baseball, was in the outfield. I guess it was a KC Royals game then, and Jackson let a ball get past him rolling to the wall. And just like that, Miller instantly dropped into a Keith Jackson SEC voice and bellowed "Fum-BULLLLLLLL!!! And I do believe the Tide has recovered!"
Another time he did an imitation of Vin Scully doing... Vin Scully. "Say, fans..." The guy was immensely entertaining.
 
CA seems like a really likable guy. He doesn't seem to understand that viewers are a lot more interested in the basketball game than his stories.
My wife got comp tickets to the Miami game some time ago, so she gave them to me, along with plane tickets, as a birthday gift. Our seats happened to be directly next to the gate to the stairs that lead to the announcers' crows nest. (Kinda crappy seats, but the price was right.) So, I saw and talked to CA three different times coming and going.
While I too find him annoying as a commentator, he couldn't have been nicer to me. Stopped and talked every time, complimented Duke, asked if my wife and I needed anything, etc. Even turned away from the floor a few times during time outs to give me a thumbs up. So my annoyance with him will now be muted a bit.
 
I did. If I remember correctly, Tim McCarver was the starting catcher. That starting infield of Bill White, 1b, Julian Javier, 2b, Ken Boyer, 3b, Dick Groat, ss, Lou Brock lf, Curt Flood, cf, Roger Maris, rf. The great Bob Gibson number 1 starter. I might be misremembering about Maris, because Mike Shannon was on that team I believe.

GoRedbirds!
Here is a great segment on Carson where Uecker (dressed like a Star Trek extra - gotta love the 70s) tells a story about how he and Bob Gibson got fined for holding hands during the team photo as a gag.

 
Here is a great segment on Carson where Uecker (dressed like a Star Trek extra - gotta love the 70s) tells a story about how he and Bob Gibson got fined for holding hands during the team photo as a gag.

Two of the funniest men on the planet, Uecker and Carson. Well, I guess they were born on this planet.
 
I did. If I remember correctly, Tim McCarver was the starting catcher. That starting infield of Bill White, 1b, Julian Javier, 2b, Ken Boyer, 3b, Dick Groat, ss, Lou Brock lf, Curt Flood, cf, Roger Maris, rf. The great Bob Gibson number 1 starter. I might be misremembering about Maris, because Mike Shannon was on that team I believe.

GoRedbirds!
Maris joined the Cardinals in 1966.

accfanfrom1970: Mike Shannon was the right fielder for the Cardinals in 1964, and actually Dal Maxvill was the 2nd baseman. When Groat left in 1966 Maxvill moved over to SS and Javier started at 2nd. Maris played for the Yankees in 1966, and for the Cardinals in 1967 and 1968, then retired with a Busch beer distribution site in Florida courtesy of Auggie. and yes GoRedbirds (gonna be a rough year)!
 
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I grew up as a Brewers fan, mostly in the 1980s. I lived in a rural area of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (mostly Brewers and Tigers fans). The Brewers were rarely on TV (there, or anywhere really).

I listened to nearly every Brewers game on grandpa’s Montgomery Ward AM radio, which was about the size of a box of Girl Scout cookies. I must have broken its 4 ft long, 5 section telescoping antenna a dozen times just being a clumsy kid, trying to listen quietly in the dark in the basement so I wouldn’t keep grandpa awake. Bob Uecker’s voice almost felt like family to me because I was spending 10+ hours per week listening to those games in the summer. I didn’t even know what he looked like (I never made the connection that he was the same guy in the Miller Lite commercials or the guy on Mr Belvedere).

The downside of Duke being on TV pretty much nonstop for the past 30 years is that I never turned to radio for games, and I missed out on Bob Harris. I can imagine that many of y’all feel the same about Bob H. as I do for Bob U.

So as we gripe about Corey Alexander and Jay Bilas and the others, today I’m missing Bob Uecker and the voice I grew up with.

Grandpa died a couple years ago. But I think I’m going to head out to the Upper Peninsula soon for no other reason than to try to find that old radio.

Thanks for sharing this. I also grew up listening to radio, often with my grandma who was blind due to diabetes. She was able to see me when I was born and lost her vision very shortly afterwards. I was a young energetic kid so I didn't appreciate sitting and listening to radio but I am glad I did it.

Turkey at the time was quite behind in technology and we had one (government) TV channel which was black and white (late 80s). I still remember when they released the second channel and it was color. People listened to games on radio all the time.

The radio was bought by my grandpa with his first paycheck from military. He was born in 1914 at Ottoman Empire and wrote in his diary in Arabic script which none of us could read (Turkey switched to Latin alphabet with the founding od the country). He also served in Korea and also survived a plane crash.

When grandpa passed away, they were going to throw away the radio so I brought it to Portland in my suitcase and is in my living room.

Thanks for reminding me that. 1000054216.jpg
 
As a youth, I was a huge fan of the Yankees in the 60’s, with Mantle, Maris, etc.
I made a lot of money off of my older teenage brother, who was a Detroit Tiger fan. I would listen to the Yankee games live on one radio station while my brother was out gallivanting with his friends. There was a delayed broadcast of Yankee games on another station. I would listen to the replay when my brother got home, with him not knowing that it was a replay. I would make bets with him about the game, with great financial gains. I would lose a bet occasionally so that he wouldn’t catch on. Good times.
 
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