If Your Birthday is January 26th...

...you share it with "Mister Baseball."  Bob Uecker might be the most famous .200 hitter in baseball history -- and, thanks to the Ford Frick Award, the only one enshrined in Cooperstown.  Finding his true calling as a Brewers broadcaster and standup comic, the Milwaukee native made 100 Tonight Show appearances, where Johnny Carson coined his nickname.   One of the stars of the Miller Lite TV ads, he branched out into sitcoms with Mister Belvedere and extended his brand as the play by play announcer in the Major League movies.  Seen here in the 1965 Cardinals Yearbook, Uecker is about to begin his 54th season as the Brewers radio voice.

Also in our January 26th baseball circle:
Davis Schneider  was promoted to the Blue Jays last August after slugging 21 home runs during the first two-thirds of the minor league season.  The New Jersey native cleared the fences eight times in 35 Toronto games and will get a shot at being the club's regular 3rd baseman this coming season.

(Below)  Ryan Rowland-Smith was one of the first Australian pitchers to make the majors -- and the first big leaguer with a hyphenated surname.  After posting a 12-17 record over four Seattle seasons, he moved into the broadcast booth and is now an analyst on the Mariners pre- and post-game TV shows.

  • Rick Schu was handed a nearly impossible job -- replacing Mike Schmidt as the Phillies everyday 3rd baseman. After hitting just .252 in 1985 while the future Hall of Famer shifted to 1st, Schmidt reclaimed his old position. Schu lasted in Philadelphia through 1987, before being traded to the Orioles.
And we remember Bob Nieman, whose 12 big league seasons were bookended by the 1951 St. Louis Browns and '62 San Francisco Giants -- where he made his lone post season appearance, walking off Marshall Bridges in game four of the World Series at Yankee Stadium.





 

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