Bob Uecker was a baseball guy. But he also loved golf

Ed. note: Bob Uecker, who died on Thursday at the age of 90it was many things to many people. You probably knew him as the beloved voice of the Milwaukee Brewers. You may remember him from his role in the Major League movies (“Yuuust slightly out”). Or maybe you associate him as the guy from the Miller Lite commercials or for his stint on the popular ’80s sitcom, “Mr. Belvedere.”

Uecker, or “Ueck” as he was often called, was at least one other thing: a golfer. He took up the game when he played for the Milwaukee Braves in the 1960s and lowered his handicap to about 12.

In 2020, GOLF’s Chris Nashawaty spoke with Uecker about his passion for golf and much more. That interview is reprinted below.

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GOLF: You are 86. When did you start playing golf?

BOB UECKER: Way back when I was playing professional baseball, my teammate, Clete Boyer, and I were going through the offseason. It was pretty frustrating at first. The ball is sitting on a tee and I would hit it out of bounds, or hook it or hit a grounder. It’s not like you have a guy throwing you a 100 mile an hour pitch. It might swing and miss it. This is understandable. But when you’re swinging a ball that’s lying on the ground and nobody’s talking, there’s really no excuse.

Maybe you just needed babysitters, like at the park…

Maybe! I guess I need people to scream shame on me and my family like when I was getting caught in the big leagues.

are you ok What is your lowest handicap?

I got to about 13, 12. I don’t hit the ball far anymore. I mean, I can put a stick of dynamite in my driver and still only hit it 200 yards, but I don’t care. It’s a little embarrassing, though, when someone catches me kicking the kids’ tees in the middle of the freeway.

What’s the best golf advice you’ve ever received?

To remove my clubs.

You finished your major league career with a .200 batting average. A little relieved you didn’t get one more at bat?

I never paid much attention to those things. The He did Still, I manage to hit 14 home runs in my career, and some of them off Hall of Famers. When I see Sandy Koufax, I always apologize because I thought that might keep him out of the Hall of Fame.

You were in The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson 65 times. Why did you hit it so well?

I don’t know, because he could never make me laugh. We were good friends. And none of it was scripted or planned. He asked me one night if I needed the notes that were on his desk. And I said, “No, I thought they were for you!”

You advertised most of your lines in the film Major League too, right?

Yes, the director told me: “Say whatever you want to say; use your stuff.” So things like “From Judaism slightly out” were uncuffed. “Eight ball”, “Nine ball” – all these things.

Can Charlie Sheen Really Bring the Heat Like the Wild Thing?

Charlie was good! All I had to do was watch it finish and I knew. He could really throw!

How fun were those Miller Lite commercials to shoot in the 80s? I mean, you, Billy Martin, Rodney Dangerfield, John Madden…

It was like a crazy week with all those guys. Rodney was very late to the shoot. I did one with (Boston Celtics coach) Tommy Heinsohn, where we were both looking for Halley’s Comet, which comes around once every hundred years. We were on top of a mountain and I started talking to him about, “Now would be a great time for a Miller Lite.” So I bend over to get the Miller Lite and miss Halley’s Comet.

Not many people can also say they’ve been smothered by Andre the Giant in their career…

Yeah, while I was announcing Wrestlemania. He scared the crap out of me. He did it himself. He just had to get carried away and talk about Hulk Hogan, and then all of a sudden he started choking me! It was fun… I guess.

You’ve been the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers forever. How weird was it for Opening Day to come and go this year without baseball?

This will be my 50th year with the Brewers and my 65th overall in baseball. This is what I do. It’s where I need to be. So it’s sad.

What do you think will happen?

We will start again eventually, but it will probably be without people in the stands. Now, I don’t care if you’re a baseball player or Tiger Woods, players feed off the adrenaline of the fans. The thought of playing baseball in an empty stadium just doesn’t seem right.

Well, hopefully we’ll have baseball back soon and see you back in the booth.

I hope so too. Thanks, mate.