Bob Uecker turned 80 this weekend, and for the first time, he's talking about cutting back his workload. On WTMJ radio this morning, Uecker announced that he will be sitting out "select road trips" with the Brewers this season. How many games exactly he'll miss is unclear: He suggested that if the Brewers are competitive late in the season, he'll be there to cover them.
"59 years is going to be enough where I think I want to kick back and relax a little bit," he told the station. "I'm going to make some of the (road) trips ... but I'm going to spend most of my time, probably, at Miller Park doing the home games. The west coast trips, I think I'm going to kind of cut back on."
Uecker missed a chunk of the 2010 season following heart surgery, but he stressed during the announcement that his decision was not related to health issues. Uecker—who revealed at the Brewers' On Deck event this weekend that he is actually one year older than previously believed, having been born in 1934, not 1935—will simply be taking more control over his own schedule. Brewcrewball notes that the Dodgers have a similar arrangement with veteran announcer Vin Scully.
|
|
"Until I have problems getting around...and I don't have any problems, I'm going to stick around (broadcasting) and enjoy it," Uecker said.
There's no word from the Brewers who will replace him during the games he misses. You can hear the audio from this morning's broadcast here.
