Brewers place banner inside ballpark for fans to leave Uecker tributes

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Baseball fans and employees of the Milwaukee Brewers were among those who on Friday filled a banner with messages paying tribute to Bob Uecker, the beloved team broadcaster who died one day earlier.

Friday morning, Jan. 17, the team set out a large banner outside the team store. The Brewers encouraged fans to come leave messages with markers.

Roger and Nick Anderson, a father and son from New Berlin, were among the first to arrive at the ballpark. They said Uecker's voice was something they associated with family memories.

"When I think of him, I think of my grandpa," Nick Anderson said. "Because whenever we went to Brewer games, he would have his radio with us all the time."

Roger Anderson said his father was in the Air Force, and their travels took them to Kansas City, where he became a Royals fan. However, he said they always had family roots in Wisconsin, and Uecker's Brewers broadcasts were a bond across multiple generations.

"Some of my fondest memories are of hearing his voice," he said. "Listening with my father, even my grandfather."

Uecker's legacy went well beyond baseball. He was known to frequent the original Gilles' Frozen Custard at N. 76th St. and W. Bluemound Rd.

Owner Willy Linscott said he remembers Uecker holding court for customers while he was a child and his father, Tom, ran the business.

"He always made people laugh," Linscott said. "You'll probably hear that from everybody you talk to."

Uecker's signature sense of humor was on display in a 2017 CBS Sunday Morning feature about Milwaukee's affinity for frozen custard. Linscott recalled Uecker discussing his love for the sweet treat and a "theory" he had about it.

“The cows in California are too hot,” Uecker explained. “Cows in the Midwest, in the winter, shake and shiver. That's what gives the custard the air.”

Back at the ballpark, a shrine at Uecker's statue near home plate continued to grow. Fans continued to bring flowers, balloons and Miller Lite cans.

"Listening to those spring training games and listening to him tell his stories, it took me back to being a kid," Patti Penkalski of Milwaukee said. "I still have my dad's transistor radio that he used to put on his lawn chair when we'd sit out and listen to Brewer games."

Lynn Demerath drove in with her husband, Tom, from their Janesville home to sign the Uecker banner. They have a season ticket package, and she said Uecker was her main companion during games.

"I'm one of those people that, I'm sitting my seat, my club level seats, and I have Bob Uecker in my ears," she said.

Demerath said she'd often times get looks from those seated around her when she laughed at Uecker's jokes, even the ones she'd heard multiple times over the years.

"I'm not sure I'm gonna bring my radio," she said. "It might just stay right in my bag."