If Bob Uecker were a better scout and cleaner with his mashed potatoes and gravy, he might never have made it to the broadcast booth. Bud Selig joined The Rich Eisen Show this week to discuss the new Just a Bit Outside: the Story of the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers documentary on Netflix. During this segment, Selig recounted how the late Bob Uecker became a broadcaster for the Brewers. After purchasing the Seattle Pilots and relocating them to Milwaukee, Selig and Uecker attended the New York Baseball Writers dinner together.
“In January of 1971, he and I went out together after the dinner, and we were talking, and it was very simple. I said, ‘Bob, you ought to come work for the Brewers, I’ll find something for you to do.’ And he said, ‘I’m in.’ That was it.” With their broadcast team already set, Selig decided to make Uecker a scout.
Shortly after, longtime baseball executive Frank Lane walked into Selig’s office and asked, “What do you want me to do with your guy Uecker?” Just as Selig began explaining Uecker’s background as a former Major League Baseball catcher, Lane interrupted and threw Uecker’s first report on his desk. “There was a bunch of mashed potatoes and gravy all over the thing,” Selig noted. “So I later asked him, ‘Bob, what the hell are you doing?’ …Every player that he scouted, he rated as a prospect. He hedged his bet.” Desperate to get Uecker out of scouting and into the broadcast booth, Selig approached radio sponsor Schlitz Brewery the following year and offered to cover half of Uecker’s salary.
“He was making 12 grand, so I paid six and they paid six,” Selig recalled. “They began a broadcast; Merle Harmon was with him and Tom Collins. They walked out on him during his first game at Yankee Stadium, leaving him to handle the play-by-play alone, and he was so nervous.” Uecker had previously shared the story of Harmon and Collins leaving him during the fifth inning of his first broadcast, stating, “I took over the broadcast as the lead guy, and I’m still here,” Uecker said in 2024.
“He’s known for so many things,” Selig told Eisen. “But he made himself into a great announcer.” Luckily, Uecker didn’t excel as a scout; the sports world has greatly benefited from hearing Uecker call baseball games for more than half a century instead of scouting them.
