Friday’s ad is the fourth baseball-themed one, which I’ll be continuing through the World Series. The ad is from 1982 and features baseball personality Bob Uecker, who Johnny Carson dubbed “Mr. Baseball.” This was one his earliest ads for Miller Lite, when they started trying to convince men to drink a low-calorie beer. It features Uecker’s signature self-deprecating humor with the line “Great ballplayers drink Lite beer because it’s less filling. I know. I asked one.”
Earlier this week, Uecker went under the knife for about 6 hours, getting a valve in his heart replaced. He’ll need a couple of months to recover. He’s expected to fully recover.
He’s one of the sports best ambassadors.
Used to love listening to Brewers’ games on the radio when living in Chicago as a kid.
Lite’s campaigns in the 80’s were terrific. Makes all of today’s big beer campaigns look stupid by comparison.
Ueck certainly is a character & one of the all-time best @ self-deprecating humor! My favorite TV ad of his was a Miller Lite bit where he was at the top of the “nosebleeds” & saying “I must be in the front row” (or something akin to that – it’s been 25+ yrs since that ad ran; but you might be able to find it on YouTube).
He was a lousy hitter, but a good defensive catcher – I hope he recovers & can resume doing Brewers’ games & the occasional late-night talk show gigs when he’s in LA/NY- he’s always a hoot!