The players inside the Milwaukee Brewers clubhouse always said that Bob Uecker was one of the boys. 

And he sure was. In every possible way.

As three of the most prominent Brewers of the final two decades of Uecker’s career behind the mic – Ryan Braun, Brandon Woodruff and Christian Yelich – gathered to tell tales and honor the memory of the team’s beloved broadcaster who died Thursday, it was a reminder of yet another title Uecker held in addition to husband, father, announcer, player, actor and comedian. 

Teammate. 

That type of relationship between players and broadcasters is uncommon. In fact, it’s almost unheard of. 

There really only was one Bob Uecker. This is why players loved him so much.

The clubhouse was Uecker’s ‘sanctuary’

In so many places, Bob Uecker was a larger-than-life figure. When you live the life he led as a Milwaukee native, you become a celebrity around these parts. 

But there was one place in particular where Uecker could truly be himself. 

“In the clubhouse, he was just Bob,” Yelich said. 

To see Uecker in the clubhouse was to see him at his most relaxed. It was his happy place. He had a locker near the entrance to the room, but before he would ever sit down there he would take a lap around the room, greeting every single player along the way. 

As Yelich described it, the clubhouse was his “sanctuary.”

“He can be himself, and he knows that those are his friends,” he said. “It’s a place where he can let his guard down and just be him. And I think that’s why you guys kind of heard like all the special stories from guys in the clubhouse from behind the scenes, because you got the true version of Bob, where he could let his guard down and just be him.”

Trust went both ways

Uecker saw himself as one of the guys, even at 90 years old.

Likewise, the players saw him the same way. 

Part of the reason they felt so comfortable with him was his background. Uecker was once a player. No matter the amount of self-deprecating jokes he made about his career, there’s no faking your way to play Major League Baseball. 

And what comes with being in the fraternity is understanding the life of a player. Because of that, Uecker was never a critic. The man who played Harry Doyle never acted like him in real life because of the respect he held for the job. 

“When the games are going on, during the game sometimes the guys will go back in the clubhouse and watch the game and listen to Bob,” Woodruff said. “And there was never – and this is what strikes me now – there was never an instance where he would ever, ever say a bad word about a player. It’s hard to do that. It’s hard to not to say something negative at some point.”

No matter how things were going on the field, players had a friend when they stepped in the clubhouse.

“He had the unique ability to relate to all of us,” Braun said. “He’d lived the game through our eyes. He understood how challenging a season could be at different times. And so to be able to go to him just to talk about life more so than baseball, was something that I think we all looked forward to. The season can get challenging. It can feel stressful at times. I think he was just a source of consistency and calm for all of us, and we valued his opinion, right? He just always had a unique ability to say the right thing, to give good advice, to make you laugh, to not take things as seriously and to just bring joy to our lives.”

He even spoke at team meetings

Woodruff revealed a fascinating tidbit, one that previously was unknown to the public: During team meetings when things were going great, Uecker would be asked to speak to the club by the manager, whether it was Craig Counsell or Pat Murphy.

“Just telling you kind of what a big deal he is, there’s times when you when you pull team meetings, the team may not be playing well, or something might be happening,” Woodruff said. “And there’s times where either Couns or Murph has let Bob talk in front of the team to give us some inspiration. I know there’s probably been a handful of times that he’s done that for us.” 

Starting pitchers would break with tradition for Uecker

Rule number one of the baseball clubhouse is to not talk with that day’s starting pitcher. Let them sit there or listen to music or eat or whatever it is they’re doing. Whatever you do, do not mess with their routine. 

Unless your name is Bob Uecker. 

“With starting pitchers, the day that they’re pitching, they don’t want to be interrupted,” Braun said. “They’re very routine-oriented. You guys are around it, you know, this stuff. Bob was one of the only people that every single person, even on start day, would want to spend time with because of his unique ability just to help you get in the right frame of mind, to put yourself in the optimal position to be successful. 

“It never felt like it was a distraction or it was taken away from preparation. He just had such a unique ability to add value to your day, to add joy to your day and to put you in a position to be successful, not just in baseball, but in life.”

Woodruff, who would know as well as anyone, echoed this. 

“Even on days that I would start, heck, I’d be in the food room and just hanging out,” he said. “And Bob would always come through and kind of just take your mind off of the day to come.”