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World Series: Bob Uecker Should Replace Joe Buck – Really?

By Steve Contursi

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Currently, there’s a petition circulating on Change.org to have Bob Uecker replace Joe Buck as the play-by-play announcer for this year’s World Series. As of this writing, it has 5,000 “signatures”. It won’t get to 5,001 with my vote. And here’s why…

Okay, from the get-go, this is not about Joe Buck. Instead, it’s about Bob Uecker and his value, not as a person, but as a broadcaster.

Much like comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who built his career based on his “I don’t get no respect” routine, Bob Uecker has one, too. Uecker’s is based on his ineptitude. He can’t do anything well. He certainly couldn’t hit a baseball very well. Although Bob Uecker is actually proud of the fact that he managed to hit for a career batting average of a mere .200 over six years in the big leagues.

He’s not only proud of it, he’s built a career out of it. Now, you can’t knock a man for wanting to make a living, but it really becomes a stretch when he’s tagged with the adjective next to his name as a “national treasure” as we read in the petition being circulated.

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Excuse me, but Vincent Edward Scully is a national treasure. Eleanor Roosevelt was a national treasure, and for that matter so is Tony Bennett. Not Bob Uecker. What Bob Uecker is, though, is a regional broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers with the kind of cornball humor that fits nicely in with the Midwest and the comedy he did on the forgettable “Mr. Belvedere” television show.

All snobbery aside, we’re talking about the World Series, the premier event of baseball, that’s going to be televised nationally to the East Coast, West Coast, and all around the town. And how many times and how many ways do you want to listen to him say things like, “Baseball hasn’t forgotten me. I go to a lot of Old Timers games and I haven’t lost a thing. I sit in the bullpen and let people throw things at me. Just like old times.” Uh huh. It’s about baseball, not about you, Bob.

And when you read his biography on the Brewers website, it quickly becomes clear that he is thought mostly of as an entertainer. Here’s a little sample:

"“Uecker’s big break can be traced to a 1969 visit with Al Hirt, a renowned jazz trumpeter from New Orleans. Hirt opened a small nightclub in Atlanta and asked Uecker to come on stage. Hirt was so impressed that he arranged an appearance for Uecker on The Tonight Show, starring Johnny Carson. Uecker became one of Carson’s favorite guests, making 100+ appearances before Carson retired in 1992. He also made appearances on The Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin Shows, Late Night with David Letterman, and as guest host on Saturday Night Live.”"

So it’s very nice that MLB.com picked up on the story about “Mr. Baseball” as he’s also known. But do we really need this? The World Series deserves to be broadcast with professional announcers. Like him or not, you have to at least give Joe Buck and the FOX team credit for being that. And we’re not talking about the FOX World Series pregame team that is another sideshow all by itself. Godspeed to you Mr. Uecker, but I’m afraid you’re (still) not ready for prime time.

Next: Joe West the Right Choice for WS Umpire?

But at the same time, he can be a pretty good entertainer even with his self-deprecating humor, as see here in an old clip from a Miller Lite beer commercial:

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