Brewers are in the World Series, and Bob Uecker should be calling it

For 54 seasons, Bob Uecker was the sound of summer in Wisconsin. He called good teams and dreadful ones with the same dry wit people throughout the world saw in the "Major League" movies. Through Harvey's Wallbangers, through the lean decades and through a 2024 season he worked while battling small cell lung cancer, Uecker waited for the Milwaukee Brewers to give him one more World Series.

They finally did. It just came 21 months too late.

At age 90, Uecker died on Jan. 16, 2025, less than two years before the Brewers completed a sweep of the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers to reach their first World Series since 1982. On Wednesday, with Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Rays two days away, his family released a statement through the team that said what every Milwaukee fan has been thinking since the final out of the NLCS.

"We are filled with elation and pride, but also longing," the family said in the statement. "A wish that Bob was here to see it, too."

The statement went on to note that "Milwaukee, the Brewers, and the fans meant everything to Bob. Wherever we gather — a packed stadium, a neighborhood bar, a living room with the radio turned all the way up — we know he's right here cheering alongside us."

To their credit, the Brewers have refused to let this run happen without Uecker. Manager Pat Murphy has kept Uecker in the middle of the clubhouse celebrations throughout October, reading playful "letters" from Uecker to the team before the champagne came out, and pausing amid the celebration after the NLCS sweep to say what the room was feeling.

"He'd be so happy for the guys," Murphy said. "Those who knew him well are all thinking about Ueck today."