[No Paywall] Bob Uecker’s spirit hangs over a bittersweet Brewers World Series
![[No Paywall] Bob Uecker’s spirit hangs over a bittersweet Brewers World Series](/media/site-25/92/001-f3e51e99.webp)
posted by u/TheAthletic · 2026-10-25 12:45 UTC
A few mornings after the Milwaukee Brewers advanced to the World Series, broadcaster Jeff Levering visited Bob Uecker’s grave.
A couple of nights before, Levering made a call — Oh my God, the Brewers win the pennant! — that unintentionally invoked Uecker’s legacy. Milwaukee is now in the midst of a baseball celebration unlike any in the past 44 years, not since the 1982 Brewers battled the St. Louis Cardinals to seven games in the franchise’s only other World Series appearance.
In the days leading up to this year’s Fall Classic, Levering was not alone in stopping at Uecker’s grave. This past week, Uecker’s tall, slim headstone was surrounded by an old Brewers hat, a deflated baseball balloon and yellow-and-blue flowers. He is buried in a military cemetery, a uniform setting with shining headstones and quiet surroundings. Per its policy, Wood National Cemetery discourages leaving items “inconsistent with the dignity” of the grounds, but many fans cannot resist paying homage.
“When you think about Milwaukee,” Levering said, “you immediately associate it with Bob Uecker. It’s the Brewers, and it’s Bob Uecker.”
Uecker’s grave is little more than a 20-minute walk from Milwaukee’s American Family Field. His headstone faces the ballpark, the stadium’s arched roof visible over the trees in the distance. Grave markers are a uniquely human way to honor those who are gone, a reflection of our uneasy struggle with grief and death. There is no one right way to remember those who are gone.
Levering, who has been on the Brewers radio call since 2015, has visited Uecker’s grave multiple times over the past two years. The whole broadcast crew went on Opening Day. Lane Grindle, another member of the Brewers radio team, stopped in again just before departing for Los Angeles to play in the National League Championship Series. He brought his daughter. On other occasions, he has brought his son.
Read the full story for free here: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7721570/2026/10/25/bob-uecker-brewers-mlb-world-series/?unlocked_article_code=1.LVE.S4p4.86MGaqss9eov&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta
Original link: https://www.mlb.com/news/jeff-levering-remembers-bob-uecker-as-brewers-win-nlcs
## Top comments
1. u/AutoModerator · 2026-10-25 12:45 UTC
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2. u/aimlesswanderer7 · 2026-10-25 13:33 UTC
Leave things at Uecker's statue at the ballpark. Visit the grave, but leave the military cemetery unmarked.
3. u/GreenDavidA · 2026-10-25 18:28 UTC
Obviously his Brewers and Milwaukee connection is unmatched, but he was special to us in Cleveland, too, and we’re pulling for the Brewers.
4. u/No_Series3763 · 2026-10-25 14:38 UTC
"Unintenionally invoked Uecker's legacy." Do people not realize good broadcasters practice what they might say in big moments???
5. u/JornLuv · 2026-10-25 14:57 UTC
They do, but levering said he didn't want to think ahead to what he'd say and that just was in the moment.
6. u/MeancupofJoey · 2026-10-25 21:04 UTC
Not true. I listened to him talk about the moment. He said he didn’t rehearse it exactly but he thought about what he would say in the moment and that it was planned.
7. u/Few_Concentrate_6112 · 2026-10-26 00:17 UTC
Then why did you say practice?
That voice crack wasn’t practiced.
8. u/Sensitive-Avocado865 · 2026-10-25 14:53 UTC
The headstone facing the ballpark is a perfect detail.
9. u/altoidcrusher · 2026-10-25 14:42 UTC
That hit me. We miss you, Ueck!
10. u/FlashFlood79 · 2026-10-25 19:20 UTC
Yeah we do 😔
11. u/CryptographerLow6772 · 2026-10-25 16:38 UTC
Nothing bitter about Bob, all sweet.
12. u/ilabachrn · 2026-10-25 20:26 UTC
Fantastic article. Thanks for sharing it.
13. u/gwaydms · 2026-10-25 22:55 UTC
Bob Uecker was one of the funniest people I've ever heard. His best stories were detailed, profane, and irresistibly hilarious.
14. u/LilNello1 · 2026-10-25 16:27 UTC
Saving to read this later
15. u/lzrdkng725 · 2026-10-25 16:50 UTC
Sad that he’ll mostly be remembered as a Cleveland Indians announcer
16. u/Monkey1Fball · 2026-10-25 19:02 UTC
I remember him more as a sports reporter from Beaver Falls, PA.
17. u/Drug_fueled_sarcasm · 2026-10-25 12:58 UTC
Sorry but I still associate Uecker with the indians and no gaslighting by the brewers will change that.
18. u/AshgarPN · 2026-10-25 13:39 UTC
I assume this is bait, but nonetheless Uecker had no connection to the Indians beyond the movie Major League.
19. u/Drug_fueled_sarcasm · 2026-10-25 14:00 UTC
Indians legend. Not Cleveland exactly but indy is close enough
20. u/Drug_fueled_sarcasm · 2026-10-25 13:43 UTC
Major league is what most people know him from. Unless you listen to home brewers broadcasts which I would rather eat glass than do. Cleveland legend Bob Uecker