Another Hall of Fame for Bob Uecker

Ho hum...another year, another Hall of Fame ceremony for Bob Uecker.  Thankfully, this one is more relevant than the last two.

Tuesday, the longtime Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster will be inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.

But what about those last two inductions, you ask?

In March 2010, Uecker found himself enshrined in the WWE Hall of Fame.  A couple of months later, the former catcher was inducted into the Wisconsin Meat Industry Hall of Fame.

Uecker was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2001 and honored with the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award for broadcast excellence in 2003.  The five-time Wisconsin Sportscaster of the Year is also in the Wisconsin Sports Hall of Fame. 

In 2005 and 2009, he was added to the Milwaukee Brewers' "Ring of Honor" and the Milwaukee Braves' "Wall of Honor" respectively.

Pretty cool for a guy who was, more or less, lackluster as a player...and a sitcom star.

Ladies and Gentlemen...Mr. Meat! Wait. What?!?

Bob Uecker has had an interesting life, no?

After a below average six-year Major League career, Uecker has found himself inducted into a handful of Halls of Fame.  Let's break it down.

In 1998, the Milwaukee native was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame.  Three years later, it was the National Radio Hall of Fame. 

In 2003..."Mr. Baseball" was forever immortalized in Cooperstown when he received the Ford C. Frick Award.

In 2005 and 2009, he was added to the Milwaukee Brewers' "Ring of Honor" and the Milwaukee Braves' "Wall of Honor" respectively.

And speaking of "rings" (see what I did there?), Uecker even found himself enshrined in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010.

But here's where it gets weird.

Did you know that in May 2010, the former catcher was inducted into the Wisconsin Meat Industry Hall of Fame?

Yeah.  Me neither.

Well, there is.  It was established in 1993, resides at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Meat Science Laboratory and, for some reason, found it necessary to enshrine the longtime Brewers announcer.

From the Wisconsin Meat Industry Hall of Fame's website:

Bob Uecker’s voice as a radio announcer for baseball has been skillfully and professionally used with elegant expertise, humor and subtleness to advertize and promote meat on a daily basis (about 162, three-hour broadcasts annually) for nearly 40 years. He is one of Wisconsin’s most famous and accomplished marketing voices for the Wisconsin meat industry. He voluntarily and spontaneously talks about meat as a tasty, nutritious food that deserves the attention of consumers. Occasionally Uecker will enthusiastically suggest to his radio listeners that they set up the grill for hamburgers at a tailgate party or serve delicious beef steaks, pork chops, fried chicken or fish filets for a weekend party or a golf outing.

In this role as the Brewers radio voice, Bob Uecker continues as a unique, humorous, educational, interesting and positive influence in marketing the virtues of meat as one of Wisconsin’s finest foods.  Not only is he “Mr. Baseball” for the Milwaukee Brewers, he is also “Mr. Meat” for Wisconsin’s meat industry.

Alright, gang...here's the plan.

Right there on the Hall of Fame's website, it asks for nominations.  And while it is a head scratcher why Bob Uecker is enshrined...it is a travesty that the famed Klements Racing Sausages are not.

So...let's make it happen.

All we need to do, apparently, is fill out a nomination form and send it in.

I mean, if John, George and Ronald Klement were good enough to be inducted in 2005...doesn't it stand to reason that their racing meats should get in in 2012?

***Props to Old Time Family Baseball for uncovering this gem.***

Wrestling Meets Baseball

Growing up, I was always excited this time of year.  It meant two things 'round my house...Opening Day of baseball and Wrestlemania.

And in a few hours...we'll be two for two.

Last year at this time, when Bob Uecker was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, I took the high road and steered clear of making the obvious steroids jokes when discussing wrestling, baseball and the Hall of Fame.

Tonight (in an encore presetation of a post from last year at this time), I'm going to try and do it again since it seems the three of them DO have more in common than just performance enhancing drugs. And no, I won't be going into the whole "this one seemingly allows them" and "this one says they don't" comparison.

When the WWE inducted "Mr. Baseball" into their Hall of Fame (check out the text of his speech HERE), he became the second former Major Leaguer to achieve the honor.

It's true.

After an eight year hiatus, the WWE relaunched their Hall of Fame to coincide with WrestleMania XX and Pete Rose was inducted by, fittingly, "The Big Red Machine" Kane.

But why are Uecker and Rose in the WWE Hall of Fame?

You see, Uecker served as an announcer for two of wrestling's biggest all-time pay-per-view events (WrestleMania III and IV) and, famously, got choked out by wrestling legend Andre the Giant.

Rose, on the other hand, did Ueck one better...having appeared at WrestleMania XIV, XV and 2000.

Also taking part and joining Rose in those memorable WrestleMania XV and 2000 appearances was the Famous San Diego Chicken. No word yet if the Chicken (a member of inaugural Mascot Hall of Fame) will be joining fellow bird enthusiast Koko B. Ware in the WWE Hall of Fame.

But the WWE connection with Major League Baseball doesn't end with Uecker, Rose and his feathered friend.

In 2007, baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs inducted the late Curt Hennig in the WWE's hallowed halls. The unlikely pairing struck up a friendship after Boggs appeared with "Mr. Perfect" in a 1983 vignette. According to Boggs...it didn't end with just that taped piece.

"We became good friends, hunting and fishing buddies. In fact, he once saved my life while we were hunting in 2001," Boggs said prior to Hennig's induction in 2007. "I got entangled into a barbed wire fence and was cut pretty badly. It took all the strength Curt had to free me and carry me about a mile back to the truck. He saved my life and has a special place in my heart."

And while most WWE stars (past and present) have a history with professional football, there is at least one whose roots can be traced back to minor league baseball.

Randy Poffo was actually an outfielder who spent parts of four seasons in the low minors before becoming "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

A career .254 hitter in the St. Louis and Cincinnati organizations, his best season was his final one...with the Reds single-A affiliate Tampa Tarpons. Savage, er, Poffo finished third in the league in RBI and tied for fifth in home runs.

The 1974 North Division Champion Tarpons didn't produce any significant Major Leaguers, but the Florida State League that season had a few rising stars...speedster Ron LeFlore, pitchers LaMarr Hoyt and Dennis Martinez and a young Eddie Murray.

Since the WWE implemented the "Raw" guest host in the summer of 2009, there have been two that have had ties to baseball.

Last spring...the aforementioned Rose welcomed fans to the HP Pavilion in San Jose and prior to that, Johnny Damon took center stage (ring?) when he grabbed the mic in Tampa.

You would think that given the history of both sports and the connection that they share, there would be more crossover and if you ask me...they're missing the mark by not including MLB stars.  I mean, consider this...a month before the new season, it wasn't Albert Pujols (or even, God help us, Ryan Theriot) hosting "WWE Raw".

Who was it?

Snooki.

Yuck.

And if you're looking to enjoy WrestleMania 27 tonight for free on the web, hit up BlackSportsOnline.com.  Just make sure you throw it's proprietor Robert a buck or two.

Baseball Meets Wrestling...Seems Logical

A couple of weeks ago in a story about Bob Uecker being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, I took the high road and steered clear of making a steroids joke when discussing wrestling, baseball and the Hall of Fame.

This week...I'm going to try and do it again since it seems the three of them DO have more in common than just performance enhancing drugs. And no, I won't be going into the whole "this one seemingly allows them" and "this one says they don't" comparison.

Last night in Phoenix, when the WWE inducted "Mr. Baseball" into their Hall of Fame (check out the text of his speech HERE), he bacame the second former Major Leaguer to achieve the honor.

After an eight year hiatus, the WWE relaunched their Hall of Fame to coincide with WrestleMania XX and Pete Rose was inducted by, fittingly, "The Big Red Machine" Kane.

But why are Uecker and Rose in the WWE Hall of Fame?

Uecker served as an announcer for two of wrestling's biggest all-time pay-per-view events (WrestleMania III and IV) and famously got choked out by wrestling legend Andre the Giant. Rose, on the other hand, did Ueck on better...having appeared at WrestleMania XIV, XV and 2000.

Also taking part and joining Rose in those memorable WrestleMania XV and 2000 appearances was the Famous San Diego Chicken. No word yet if the Chicken (a member of inaugural Mascot Hall of Fame) will be joining fellow bird enthusiast Koko B. Ware in the WWE Hall of Fame.

But the WWE connection with Major League Baseball doesn't end with Uecker, Rose and his feathered friend.

In 2007, baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs inducted the late Curt Hennig. The unlikely pairing struck up a friendship after Boggs appeared with "Mr. Perfect" in a 1983 vignette. According to Boggs...it didn't end with just that taped piece.

"We became good friends, hunting and fishing buddies. In fact, he once saved my life while we were hunting in 2001," Boggs said prior to Hennig's Hall of Fame induction in 2007. "I got entangled into a barbed wire fence and was cut pretty badly. It took all the strength Curt had to free me and carry me about a mile back to the truck. He saved my life and has a special place in my heart."

And while most WWE stars (past and present) have a history with professional football, there is at least one whose roots can be traced back to minor league baseball.

Randy Poffo was actually an outfielder who spent parts of four seasons in the low minors before becoming "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

A career .254 hitter in the St. Louis and Cincinnati organizations, his best season was his final one...with the Reds single-A affiliate Tampa Tarpons. Savage, er, Poffo finished third in the league in RBI and tied for fifth in home runs.

The 1974 North Division Champion Tarpons didn't produce any significant Major Leaguers, but the Florida State League that season had a few rising stars...speedster Ron LeFlore, pitchers LaMarr Hoyt and Dennis Martinez and a young Eddie Murray.

Lastly, this past December saw current Major Leaguer Johnny Damon grab the mic as guest host of Monday Night Raw. Now, I'm not an avid RAW watcher, but as one blogger put it, Damon looked "dazed and confused out there...A for effort".

Damon's new team, the Detroit Tigers, are hoping for better results. The WWE, on the other hand, has been taking advantage of the dazed and confused for years.

Bob Uecker Hall-bound...Again

I'm generally not one to surf around the interwebs looking for wrestling stories, but when I saw the words "Bob Uecker" and "Hall of Fame"...I had to stop and look.

Sure, Uecker is already enshrined in Cooperstown as a broadcaster (he received the Ford C. Frick Award in 2003), but who'd have ever thought that he would be forever linked to such legends as "Nature Boy" or "The Hitman".

"It's going to be a hoot," Uecker told the Journal Sentinal, "I'm already shopping for tights."

Reportedly, that WWE has wanted to induct the two-time WrestleMania announcer for a while now, but his duties with the Milwaukee Brewers have caused scheduling conflicts. Chairman of NBC Universal Sports (and the guy who helped launched Saturday Night's Main Event) Dick Ebersol is set to induct Uecker.

This isn't exactly the first time the WWE Hall of Fame has had baseball on its mind. In 2004, they welcomed all-time hit king Pete Rose into their hallowed halls and in 2007, baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs inducted his longtime friend "Mr. Perfect" Curt Henning.

Let's see...wrestling, baseball, Hall of Fame. There's a steroids joke to be made here somewhere...but I'm going to tap out before I go down that road.