For today, I just want to reflect on Bob Uecker. I’m not normally one to get all sentimental about a celebrity, or even really care that much. Bob Uecker is different though. Bob represents the Brewers more than Favre, Starr, or Rodgers does the Packers. Recency bias will put Giannis on that same level, but he’s really not. Not yet, at least. Players come and go. But Bob was with the Brewers as their voice for over 50 years. Uecker IS the Brewers, and the Brewers ARE Bob Uecker. Finding out he died, for the first time in my life, got me sad and sentimental about the passing of a “celebrity”. The more I thought about it, the more sad it was. No scandals, no bad past, just a Wisconsin native who was the best at what he did, calling Brewers games, and a person who loved to make other people laugh. He was universally loved around the entire league, not just the Brewers organization, and that’s rare.
One of my favorite things to do in the summer is get the yard work done, sit down and crack open a beer, and turn on the radio to the Brewers. Not having Bally Sports makes the radio the only method for me to keep up with the Brewers, and 4-5 times per week I’d catch the game in my driveway. Uecker was “the soundtrack to our summer” is the phrase I see going around a lot right now, and it’s true. I know everyone has their stories about him, or their favorite call, or some incredible connection to him. I don’t have that… never met him, not a single specific call of his comes to mind when I think of him, and yet, it still sucks thinking about his passing. Life is made up more of small moments than the monumental events tv and movies would have you believe. Losing a loved one isn’t about 5 or so major memories, but rather all the little things in between that make life, well, life. And for me, one of those memories was hearing Uecker call a game after I just got done mowing the lawn or watering the plants. I don’t know anything BUT Uecker calling Brewer games. And to lose something that’s so engrained into your daily life, that’s going to sting.
Life is Too Short to Take the Fast Way is all about slowing it down and enjoying what’s around you. That’s baseball in a nutshell. No need to rush the moment, just enjoy the game. Brewer’s baseball encapsulates a nostalgia that little else can replicate. Not having Bob be there anymore sure does hurt.
Life is Too Short to Take the Fast Way 