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Robert George Uecker
St. Louis Cardinals
Catcher
Born: January 26, 1934, Milwaukee, WI
Signed: Signed by the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent before 1956 season
Major League Teams: Milwaukee Braves 1962-1963; St. Louis Cardinals 1964-1965; Philadelphia Phillies 1966-1967; Atlanta Braves 1967
Bob Uecker parlayed an unexceptional career as a baseball player into a multi-decade second career as an actor, humorist and long-time announcer for the Brewers. Uecker was a back-up catcher and occasional pinch-hitter over parts of six seasons with the Braves, Cardinals and Phillies. He was a member of the 1964 National League Champion Cardinals team, although he didn't appear in that year's World Series. Regarded as a decent defender, he nevertheless led the league in errors and passed balls in 1967. Uecker retired following the 1967 season with a .200 lifetime batting average to go along with 14 home runs and 74 RBIs over 297 games played.
He began his long-time run as a Brewers broadcaster in 1971, and he was in the booth for the call when the team recently won the National League Central pennant in 2021. Uecker appeared on the Tonight Show over 100 times and was a favorite of host Johnny Carson, who dubbed him "Mr. Baseball." Uecker was featured in Miller Lite commercials and starred in the television sitcom Mr. Belvedere between 1985 and 1990. He played Indians broadcaster Harry Doyle in the Major League trilogy of movies beginning in 1989. Despite his career statistics, Uecker made it into the Hall of Fame - elected into the broadcaster's wing in 2003 as the recipient of the annual Ford C. Frick Award.
Building the Set
The Card / Cardinals Team Set
This is perhaps the most well known of Uecker's scant baseball card appearances. The back of the card references his "funny-man antics" long before the public at large became aware of his talents. It's interesting to me that Topps felt the need to disclose that Uecker didn't appear in the 1964 World Series, but nevertheless received a full share of the team's divided winnings.
1965 Season
Uecker enjoyed one of his stronger seasons, batting .228 over 53 games while again serving as a back-up to regular catcher Tim McCarver (#294). He stepped in as the opening day catcher for the Cardinals, receiving Bob Gibson (#320), after McCarver had broken a finger in spring training. His biggest career highlight, by his own admission, came during this season when he hit a home run off the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax (#300) on July 24th in a game the Cardinals would ultimately win, 3-2, in 10 innings. Koufax would also intentionally walk Uecker later in the game, opting to face Cardinals' pitcher Ray Sadecki (#230).
Phillies Career
On October 27, 1965, Uecker, Dick Groat (#275) and Bill White (#190) were traded to the Phillies for Pat Corrales (#107), Alex Johnson (#352) and Art Mahaffey (#446). Uecker was presumably seen as an upgrade over the young Corrales, and the Phillies wanted a reliable counterpart to fellow catcher Clay Dalrymple (#372). Uecker was the club's opening day catcher in 1966, and he'd ultimately start 62 games to Dalrymple's 95. In 78 games overall, Uecker batted .208, hitting seven of his career 14 home runs and setting a career high with 43 hits. He returned in a similar role in 1967 and appeared in 18 more games with the Phillies before the team dealt him to the Atlanta Braves on June 6th for Gene Oliver (#106).
November 5, 2021 from Cooperstown, NY (Yastrzemski Sports) - Card #379
Needing a quick vacation and wanting to take our sons to Cooperstown for the first time, we took advantage of the annual NJEA Teacher Convention in which public schools are closed for a few days in early November. We loaded our car on Thursday morning with a loose plan of spending two days in Cooperstown and the surrounding area, shopping in the village, soaking in the Hall of Fame exhibits and eating a few good dinners. The 4 1/2 hour drive to Otsego County was scenic and enjoyable. Most of the day Friday was spent in the Hall of Fame and Saturday was dedicated largely to shopping in the many stores, mostly baseball related, located in the blocks surrounding the Hall.
On Friday, one of our stops was to Yastrzemski Sports and I spent quite a bit of time browsing through the treasures for sale within the spacious corner store. This Uecker card caught my eye under the glass counter near the front of the store, and when I asked the owner to view the card I was surprised he had three for sale, each at $25, and each in practically pristine condition. I asked Doug to help me pick the best of the trio, and we ended up with the card shown at the top of this post. This was the second of nine cards we'd ultimately add to our 1965 Topps set from that weekend trip to Cooperstown.
The Card / Cardinals Team Set
This is perhaps the most well known of Uecker's scant baseball card appearances. The back of the card references his "funny-man antics" long before the public at large became aware of his talents. It's interesting to me that Topps felt the need to disclose that Uecker didn't appear in the 1964 World Series, but nevertheless received a full share of the team's divided winnings.
1965 Season
Uecker enjoyed one of his stronger seasons, batting .228 over 53 games while again serving as a back-up to regular catcher Tim McCarver (#294). He stepped in as the opening day catcher for the Cardinals, receiving Bob Gibson (#320), after McCarver had broken a finger in spring training. His biggest career highlight, by his own admission, came during this season when he hit a home run off the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax (#300) on July 24th in a game the Cardinals would ultimately win, 3-2, in 10 innings. Koufax would also intentionally walk Uecker later in the game, opting to face Cardinals' pitcher Ray Sadecki (#230).
On October 27, 1965, Uecker, Dick Groat (#275) and Bill White (#190) were traded to the Phillies for Pat Corrales (#107), Alex Johnson (#352) and Art Mahaffey (#446). Uecker was presumably seen as an upgrade over the young Corrales, and the Phillies wanted a reliable counterpart to fellow catcher Clay Dalrymple (#372). Uecker was the club's opening day catcher in 1966, and he'd ultimately start 62 games to Dalrymple's 95. In 78 games overall, Uecker batted .208, hitting seven of his career 14 home runs and setting a career high with 43 hits. He returned in a similar role in 1967 and appeared in 18 more games with the Phillies before the team dealt him to the Atlanta Braves on June 6th for Gene Oliver (#106).
In 96 games with the Phillies, Uecker batted .202 with the aforementioned seven home runs and 37 RBIs. He summed up his experience with the Phillies by recalling Gene Mauch (#489) asking him to pinch-hit by saying, "grab a bat, Bob, and stop this rally." He appeared on one mainstream baseball card with the Phillies in the 1967 Topps set, which was also his sixth and final appearance in a Topps flagship issue.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #594
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1962-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2001 Topps Archives #342
34 - Uecker non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/17/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #594
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1962-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2001 Topps Archives #342
34 - Uecker non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/17/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #518 Ken Rowe - Baltimore Orioles
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Next Card: #520 Tony Cloninger - Milwaukee Braves
Looks like he put one over on the Topps photographer by appearing in a left handed batting stance, proving his funny side...
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome . . . that's probably why he's smiling a little more than usual in the photo!
ReplyDelete