Christian Yelich wasn't sure if he should use his Bob Uecker bat. The Brewers are glad he did

New York Times

2 days ago

CINCINNATI — Christian Yelich wasn't quite sure if he should use the special Bob Uecker bat that he got for last year's Players' Weekend in Friday's game against the Cincinnati Reds.
Yelich had season-ending back surgery before he could use the baby blue Louisville Slugger with a yellow handle a year ago. On the barrel was a design featuring a picture of the Hall of Fame announcer, his name, his home run call, his 'Juuuust a bit outside' line from the movie 'Major League,' a Brewers logo and: 'A True Milwaukee Legend.'
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He'd been able to give one to Uecker last year and wasn't sure if it was right to use it following Uecker's passing this past offseason.
He asked Brewers equipment manager Jason Shawger what he thought.
'Yeah, you have to,' Yelich recalled Shawger telling him. 'You have to do it at least once.'
Leading off the second inning, Yelich hit his 24th home run of the season with the bat. By the time the night was done, he had collected three more hits, including a go-ahead home run and five RBIs as the Brewers erased a seven-run deficit to beat the Cincinnati Reds 10-8 and tie the franchise record with their 13th straight win.
'What can you say about Yelich?' Brewers manager Pat Murphy said afterward.
Murphy, as is his wont, then said plenty about the 33-year-old former MVP.
'He told me on the bench, straight up, it was 8-1, he said, 'We're going to win this game,'' Murphy said. 'How do you make that statement? He looked at me and said, 'We're going to win this game.' And then … it happened.'
As unbelievable as it sounds, it did.
The Brewers, playing their first game in a stretch of 19 in 18 days, had All-Star rookie Jacob Misiorowski back on the mound for the first time this month after his time in the injured list with a left tibia contusion after being hit by a comebacker on June 28.
Misiorowski gave up a run in the first and was helped by center fielder Steward Berroa, in his first game with the Brewers and just the 29th big-league game of his career, when Berroa threw out the Reds' Miguel Andujar at the plate to end the first. In the second, Misiorowski struck out the first batter he faced before hitting Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson and then walking the next three batters, forcing in a run and bringing Murphy out to the mound to end his night.
Left-handed reliever DL Hall then came into the game and gave up a two-run double to Elly De La Cruz, followed by four straight singles. By the time the second inning was done, the Reds led 8-1.
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That's when Yelich told not just Murphy, but everyone else within earshot that the team would win.
'You never want to go out there and give up a five spot,' Hall said after allowing all three inherited runners to score plus three more of his own. 'But as soon as I'm in the dugout, Yeli's letting me know, 'We're going to win this game. Don't worry, we're going to score runs. Just keep them right there.''
The Reds wouldn't have another baserunner after scoring their eighth run of the game, as six Brewers relievers, beginning with Hall, retired the final 23 Reds of the game.
'It's just like the guys believe and they're a great group and they play together, they don't get too down when things don't go their way,' Murphy said. 'It's the 'next man up' mentality. Nobody on the team knows the Berroa kid and he came and threw a guy out at the plate in the first inning and (Brandon) Lockridge got three hits.'
Lockridge was acquired in the trade deadline deal that sent lefty Nestor Cortes to the San Diego Padres. His first game was on Aug. 1, the same day the Brewers put center fielder Jackson Chourio on the injured list. Lockridge had two hits in his first appearance. In his two weeks with the team, he has yet to experience a loss. So it was easy for him to believe Yelich's statement.
'From the little bit I've been here, the way every game has gone, for the most part, it feels like we're scoring double-digit runs every game,' Lockridge said. 'You just keep your head down and play our game.'
Lockridge, batting ninth, came to the plate in the third inning, down by seven, with one out to face Reds starter Nick Martinez. Lockridge singled up the middle, turning the lineup over back to the top. After a Sal Frelick single and a popup by Joey Ortiz, catcher William Contreras beat out a double-play ball, keeping the inning alive.
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That brought up Yelich.
After the home run, Yelich said he thought about using a different bat. Again, he consulted Shawger.
'Alright, should we just be done with it?' Yelich said to Shawger. 'One and done? That's pretty cool.'
'Naw,' Shawger told him. 'You have to keep going.'
Yelich swung at the first pitch he saw from Martinez and hit it off the handle of the bat, blooping into shallow left field, where it eluded a diving De La Cruz and went off the glove of third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, scoring two as Yelich hustled into second.
When Yelich got to the dugout, Shawger was there to greet him, saying, 'Ueck would have liked that one better.'
'He was right,' Yelich said. We just kept using (the bat), and it ended up being part of a special night — which, obviously figures. When you're talking about (Uecker), you don't put anything out of the question.'
The next batter, Andrew Vaughn, who was traded from the White Sox in June and called up from Triple-A Nashville last month when Rhys Hoskins went on the IL, homered, making it 8-4. The Brewers would add another run and go from trailing by seven runs to a much more manageable two runs just a half-inning later.
'With the way our team is, I knew we weren't going to get our doors blown off,' Yelich said. 'I knew we were going to find a way to get back into that thing. We've just got a room full of fighters, guys who don't care what the scoreboard says. We're down to play whenever, wherever and however.'
Yelich came up again in the fourth after Reds second baseman Gavin Lux booted a sure inning-ending double-play ball and tied the game with a single down the third-base line.
With one out in the sixth and the score still tied, Yelich came to the plate needing just a triple for his fourth career cycle, all against the Reds, and his third at Great American Ball Park. Instead, Yelich hit his 25th home run of the season, giving Milwaukee the lead.
Christian Yelich used a bat honoring the late Bob Uecker in Friday's win over the Reds. He had 4 hits, 2 HR and 5 RBI. You can see 'Rawlings' and Manfred's signature where he hit his first homer.
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— C Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent.bsky.social) August 15, 2025 at 8:10 PM
It was fitting that Uecker was part of this home run, the one that tied the 1987 team's franchise record for consecutive wins. It was during the 12th win of the first streak, on Easter Sunday, that Dale Sveum hit a walk-off home run — with the signature, 'Get up, get up and get out of here… Gone!' call by Uecker.
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Even though Uecker died in January, the Brewers feel like he is still with them, especially Friday night. Murphy has pictures of Uecker in his office. He's still talked about with just about every emotion: sadness, reverence and above all else, laughter.
Murphy said when the season began, he talked about loss. The loss of shortstop Willy Adames, who signed with the San Francisco Giants in free agency, and the loss of closer Devin Williams, who was traded to the New York Yankees in December. He even talked about the loss to the New York Mets in last year's Wild Card Series on Pete Alonso's home run.
And finally, Murphy addressed the loss of Uecker, the Milwaukee native who signed with the Milwaukee Braves in 1956 and debuted with the team in 1962. After retiring from playing, he started calling Brewers games on the radio in 1971. He was given the nickname 'Mr. Baseball' by talk show host Johnny Carson. Uecker's fame transcended both Milwaukee and baseball, but nowhere was he more beloved than his home city. And as much as he was loved by the city, he was loved by everyone in the Brewers' organization even more.
'We just have to convince ourselves that he's with us. I think it's true,' Murphy said. 'Heroes will be remembered and legends never die. Somehow, it seems like he's watching over us. I said he's not going to miss a game. He definitely was here tonight. Yeli proved it.'
After the game, Yelich showed off the bat, pointing at the scuffs on it. Near the barrel, the remnants of the Rawlings logo on the ball and commissioner Rob Manfred's signature were there from his first home run. Lower, near the handle, was the ink from the MLB logo transferred from the ball to the bat on his bloop double.
Saturday, as the Brewers go for a franchise record 14th straight victory, he'll have to make the decision whether to use the bat one more time.
'I don't know. I'll talk to Shawger about it and see what we want to do,' Yelich said. 'TBD. I'll let you know tomorrow.'
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