Photo Credit: Steve Fifer (@SparkyRadio) on X
By Matt Clapp on

Milwaukee Brewers star Christian Yelich had a special baseball bat made by Louisville Slugger in honor of legendary Brewers announcer Bob Uecker for MLB Players’ Weekend. Yelich intended to use the Uecker-themed custom bat for Players’ Weekend in 2024, but he was unable to play due to a back injury. And in January, Uecker passed away at the age of 90.

Well, Yelich put the bat to use on Friday night vs the Cincinnati Reds, and it went quite well.

In Yelich’s first at-bat, he hit a home run.

Uecker would say “Get up! Get outta here!” to that one, as the bat highlights.

After Yelich tied the game with that home run in the top of the second inning, the Reds scored seven runs to take an 8-1 lead in the bottom half of the inning. But the Brewers quickly erased the deficit, and Yelich hit a two-run double to tie the game 8-8 in the top of the fourth inning.

And in the top of the sixth, Yelich homered again (another opposite-field shot) to give the Brewers a 9-8 lead. Two home runs, four hits, and five runs batted in through six innings with the custom Uecker bat.

Yelich and Uecker were good friends, and the 2018 NL MVP shared his thoughts on the “great life” Uecker lived while speaking to the media in February.

“You remember the stories he would tell,” Yelich said, according to Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. “That’s the stuff you’re really going to miss because no one else can tell stories like that. But what a life, right?”

“What a good life. A great life, 90 years,” Yelich added. “We should all be so fortunate.”

Uecker was the radio voice for the Brewers for 54 years and was honored with the Ford C. Frick Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003. He would have loved calling games this season for a Brewers team that has the best record in MLB.

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.

He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

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