Hear Milwaukee Brewers fans give their best Bob Uecker home run call
Milwaukee Brewers fans give their best Bob Uecker home run call. The beloved broadcaster died in January at 90 after 54 seasons as the voice of the Brewers.
Bob Uecker was still a part of Milwaukee Brewers Opening Day.
After the Crew’s 14-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, March 26, fans could stick around to see a 20-minute excerpt from an upcoming feature-length documentary, titled “Ueck,” which chronicles the life of the legendary late Brewers radio announcer.
Uecker – a Milwaukee native and former big-leaguer with the Milwaukee Braves, among other teams – was the voice of the Brewers on the airwaves for more than a half-century. He was a Baseball Hall of Famer after earning the Ford C. Frick Award. Later in Uecker’s life, however, multiple health issues forced him to cut back on his broadcasting schedule.
Uecker’s icon status transcended baseball and extended to film and television. He made around 100 appearances on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson, who gave Ueck his nickname, “Mr. Baseball”; played Harry Doyle in the “Major League” films and George Owens in the sitcom “Mr. Belvedere”; guest-hosted “Saturday Night Live”; and was a Miller Lite commercial fixture.
He was also a renowned philanthropist and authored a humorous autobiography of sorts.
When the production company September Club approached Uecker a few years ago about doing a documentary about him, “he was on board very quickly,” said Michael Vollmann, one of the film’s directors and a fellow Milwaukee native.
It wouldn’t be long, though, before Uecker would receive his cancer diagnosis, according to Steve Farr, another local director of the doc. Uecker faced a private battle with small cell lung cancer since early 2023, his family said after his death in January 2025.
While Uecker “was going through a lot” and was “a very private person in some ways,” Vollman said, he still gave the documentary crew the “space to continue working.”
“I don’t know what his motivation for being a part of the documentary was,” Vollmann said. “But, I think, I got the sense one day when we were shooting with him, that maybe it was almost as if he was almost being part of it because he knew it would be a gift for people – maybe even after he was gone.”
Throughout the 2025 season, the Brewers paid tribute to the legend, including at a celebration of his life on a gameday in August.
We caught up with Vollman and Farr on 2026’s Opening Day. It marked the fourth consecutive home opener the two had attended for the documentary – but the first they weren’t at for filming.
Here’s what they said about the documentary, including how it came to be, what fans can expect, the most surprising things they learned about Ueck through the process, and more:
How did the ‘Ueck’ documentary come about?
A few years back, the production company September Club – which Vollmann and Farr are a part of – was looking for a project it could film in its own backyard, Vollmann said.
“The white whale was a documentary about Bob Uecker,” Vollmann said. “How amazing would that be?”
The production company got in touch with Uecker and met him in Arizona, where they had an “epic” lunch and spent three hours with Mr. Baseball.
“He took his time, told his stories and, at the end of it, did a handshake deal and said, ‘Yeah, let’s make this thing,'” Vollmann said.
Why was the ‘Ueck’ documentary important to make?
“Knowing what Bob meant to the community, for us to be able to kind of present a portrait of him that people will recognize him in is super-meaningful,” Farr said.
Farr, who’s from Racine, grew up a Brewers and Bob fan.
“To be able to tell his story and do it in a very personal and human, meaningful way is just everything for me,” Farr said.
For Vollmann, the documentary combines his love of baseball and filmmaking.
Vollmann was a listener of 1980s-era Brewers baseball with Ueck on the radio. With a boombox and cassette tape, he said he’d try to record ambient audio of the games so he could play it back and mimic Uecker.
“As a young kid, I idolized him,” he said.
How many years did the ‘Ueck’ documentary take to make?
Filming for “Ueck” began in spring 2023. The majority of the film takes place in 2024, though there’s a little from last year in it, too, Farr said.
What can fans expect from the ‘Ueck’ documentary?
The goal of the film was to portray Ueck as who he really was, Vollmann said.
“What is it like to hang out with him casually and get to know him intimately?” Vollmann said. “I think people who think they might already know Ueck, they’re probably going to find out more than they already know. I think we really dug deep.”
Nearly 30 people were interviewed for the film, Farr said, including Uecker’s Brewers broadcast partners, former baseball commissioner Bud Selig, Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Costas and Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Torre.
The doc has a mix of fun, well-known stories, ones that haven’t been heard before, day-in-the-life footage and never-before-seen archival video, Vollmann said.
The ballpark was like Ueck’s “second home,” Vollmann said. The doc will show that: Ueck pulling in with his Corvette, making his rounds – meeting people and hanging out with the grounds crew – and in the booth, doing his craft.
“That’s just some really fun, intimate material that we’re happy to just be able to share with everybody,” he said.
From Day 1, Farr said, the Brewers have been welcoming, supportive of the documentary and gave access to the filmmakers. Uecker’s family has been supportive, too.
Our book: “Bob Uecker: The Life and Career of the Milwaukee Brewers’ Legendary Broadcaster”
What was the most surprising thing the directors learned about Bob Uecker?
There was a small test screening for the doc in Los Angeles with people who weren’t from Milwaukee, or even Wisconsin.
“It’s always surprising how many people know Ueck,” Vollmann said. “We kind of take him for granted because we live here and we know him as the guy on the radio. We know him so well.”
But Uecker was so much more. He was a part of the zeitgeist at the height of his entertainment career.
“As we’ve gone through the process, it’s been a really good reminder of how big of a part of our culture he was,” Vollmann said.
Ever hear the famous story of how backup catcher Ueck borrowed a tuba to shag fly balls before his Cardinals took on the Yankees in a 1964 World Series game? Turns out, it wasn’t all laughs.
“Obviously, it’s funny,” Farr said. “But, what we discovered was that, because of that, he wasn’t allowed to play in the World Series that year. And, I think that’s something that maybe kind of bothered him the rest of his life. That was something that I was unaware of and I think is interesting.”
The Cards would go on to best the Yankees dynasty in that 1964 Fall Classic.
The impact Bob Uecker’s diagnosis, death had on the ‘Ueck’ documentary
Uecker got his diagnosis fairly early on in the production of the documentary, according to Farr.
There was a long list of things the documentary crew had wanted to film with him.
“He kind of agreed to all of them,” Farr said. “We weren’t able to do all of them because he just wasn’t able to. But, he was really great about trying to check off as many as he could.”
Filming was pretty much finished at the time Uecker died.
What do ‘Ueck’ directors hope people take away from the documentary?
“I hope that people have an even greater appreciation for Ueck,” Farr said. “Obviously, he’s iconic in this community and beyond. I think the film lives up to that, and supports that feeling. I want people to feel like they spent time with him, and just have a great experience.”
Even though Ueck was famed in the entertainment sphere, Vollmann said his “real love was baseball.”
“At the end of it, he always said No. 1 for him was baseball,” he said. “I think this film does a good job of calibrating both of those worlds.”
What did fans get to see from ‘Ueck’ on Opening Day?
After the home opener, a 20-minute chunk of the documentary was screened on the scoreboard.
“It basically takes us from his minor-league career through his major-league career, into being an entertainer and a broadcaster,” Farr said. “But, we also dip back into the 2024 season. So, we see him in the booth and kind of experience the baseball season a little bit.”
Where can I see the full ‘Ueck’ documentary?
“Ueck” is premiering on opening night of the Milwaukee Film Festival on April 16, Farr said. A major theatric release is planned for July.
To tide you over, a 1½-minute teaser of the film can be viewed at ueckmovie.com. That website is also where to stay updated on the doc.