Bob Uecker was a famously mediocre Major League hitter who discovered that he was much more comfortable at a microphone than home plate. And that was just the start of a second career in entertainment that reached far beyond the ballpark.

Bob Uecker, who transformed his futility as a baseball player into a successful second career as a baseball broadcaster, humorist and comic actor in television, film and commercials, died Jan. 16 at his home in Menomonee Falls,