From Bob Uecker's childhood friend to a Christian Yelich superfan: How some of our favorite Brewers fans are celebrating

GREENFIELD, Wis. (CBS 58) -- George Mustas still keeps the picture inside the driver's side door of his car. It's a print of a 66-year-old photo from the wedding of his younger brother, Pete. One of the groomsmen is Bob Uecker.

Mustas and Uecker played baseball as teens on a field next to what is now Siefert Elementary on the city's near north side. When Uecker died in January 2025, Mustas shared stories of teenage hijinks, such as Uecker eating raw corn on the cob while driving through the country.

Discussing the team's first World Series championship Thursday, Mustas, who turns 94 in two weeks, noted how Brewers manager Pat Murphy has incorporated "letters" from Uecker as part of postseason celebrations. Mustas stated he also keeps in touch with Uecker, as they chat over the phone.

Mustas relayed a recent "conversation" he had with Uecker.

"He called up, and I said, 'How are things going up there?'" Mustas said. "He said, 'Great. I got good news and bad news.' I said what's the good news. He said, 'We play ball every day up here.' I said what's the bad news? He said, 'You're pitching tomorrow.'"

As he reflected on the Brewers finally winning the Fall Classic in their 57th season in existence, Mustas also recalled a conversation he had with Uecker shortly after the 1982 World Series, which the Crew lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.

"When they lost that 7th game, he said, 'It's gonna be a long time before we get back to a World Series,'" Mustas said. "And they had a lot of bad years after that."

Uecker is the connective tissue of the Milwaukee Brewers. From calling the franchise's first games after relocating from Seattle in 1970 to forming a close friendship with outfielder Christian Yelich, the longest-tenured Brewer and the first captain in team history.

Yelich already made one fan's season long before the postseason. In July, he agreed to do a surprise meet-and-greet with 87-year-old Reggie Bailey, a Brewers fanatic who's particularly enamored with Yelich.

On Thursday, Bailey gleefully displayed a copy of a commemorative cover of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel celebrating the Brewers' World Series triumph.

"I don't know," Bailey said when asked how she's feeling. "I've never been that way, but wow. It's a 'wow!'"

Reflecting on a season during which she met Yelich then saw the team finally win it all, Bailey agreed this was one of the very best years of her life.

"Very, very, very special part of my life," she said.

The past couple of days really could not have gone any better for most Brewers fans. For Bailey, it was almost perfect, as she looked at her newspaper copy and the large photo of outfielder Sal Frelick.

"They should've put Yelich on there," she said.