Len Kasper sat in the old press box in Chandler, Ariz., during a Milwaukee Brewers spring training game featuring replacement players in 1995.
Bob Uecker was on the call.
“There was no TV, he was doing a broadcast with replacement players — he didn’t know who anybody was. He probably was making up names of guys on the field,” the Chicago White Sox radio play-by-play announcer, who at the time worked for the Brewers flagship station, recalled with a chuckle Thursday afternoon.
The game ended with a popup to shortstop. But that’s not how Uecker described it.
“Because I was there and a few other people and he knew we were listening, literally sitting next to him, (the) pop to short was, ‘Swing and a fly ball, deep left and caught. The game is over,’ ” Kasper said. “And he just kind of winked.
“That was Bob. Wasn’t afraid to have fun with a meaningless game.”
Kasper reflected on his time with Uecker, who died Thursday at 90.
Uecker became the voice of the Brewers in 1971. Kasper was hired by WTMJ-AM in 1994 and worked there until 2002.
“When I think of Bob, I think of literally the funniest human being I’ve ever met,” Kasper said. “Nobody made me laugh harder than Bob on and off the air. He was very generous with his time. He always — every time I saw him — would ask how my wife and my son were doing by first name.
“He’s just one of the all-time greats and was a huge influence on my career.”
Kasper said Uecker, known as “Mr. Baseball,” was the same on and off the air.
“Just the little smirk and you knew the line was coming,” Kasper said. “And nobody could deliver it the way Bob did. It wasn’t just the joke — which, whatever the joke would be, on paper it’s really funny. With Bob telling it, it’s 10 times better. I think there’s no better example than his Hall of Fame speech, which is as funny as ‘Airplane’ or ‘Spinal Tap.’ Every line there’s some comedy, and I don’t think he had a script in front of him.
“He knew all the material and went on for an hour. It’s probably the greatest Hall of Fame speech ever given.”
Kasper described Uecker as “bigger than life.”
“I think the one comp on a baseball level would be (longtime Dodgers announcer) Vin Scully,” Kasper said. “I think Bob and Vin were the two people that I think of when you ponder anyone in the ballpark, anyone in the press box, they all want to meet this person.
“He just loved play-by-play. He could have been a big fish in a huge pond like New York. Or Los Angeles. Or even Chicago. And yet, he never wanted to leave Milwaukee. He wanted to be the play-by-play voice of his hometown team. I always appreciated that about him. That was enough. He just wanted to be at the ballpark every day and hanging with the guys. That’s what he did up until this past October.”
Uecker was honored with the Ford C. Frick award in 2003. He connected with fans through broadcasts, in commercials such as the Miller Lite ads, in movies such as “Major League” and on the comedy series “Mr. Belvedere.”
“Just his talent,” Kasper said. “Of all the national profile and the accolades and the fact he played six years in the big leagues during the golden era of baseball with some of the greats and against some of the all-time greats, and he had a standup career and he was Johnny Carson’s favorite guest, and he had his own sitcom, and he did ABC “Monday Night Baseball” and later did some NBC work, the one thing I can say and I really appreciate it considering what I do is that his one true passion was doing radio play-by-play for his hometown Milwaukee Brewers.”
Like legendary coaches have their “coaching tree,” Kasper cherishes being part of Uecker’s “scorekeeping tree.”
“When I filled in for the two games with Bob, he shared his book, so he would keep score in the book for the first two innings and then he would hand his partner the book,” Kasper said. “You had to learn how he kept score of a game.
“Everybody realizes we all keep score just slightly differently, and there are a couple of tips I picked up from Bob in terms of scoring a game that I use to this day. And I’m sure I’m one of a dozen if not more broadcasters who score the way Bob did, which is kind of neat.”
Other lessons were to keep a radio call simple and have fun.
“It’s a sad day, but I know the one thing Bob would say is he always loved to make people laugh,” Kasper said. “Remembering a great career and a great human. There have been a lot of laughs today along with some tears as well, and I’m sure Bob would be OK with that.”