Steve Wiggins, an old friend who left us a while back, loved to recall this story.
As eight of us from Natchitoches were being seated at a nice restaurant in Honolulu, we noticed that a waiter was staring intently.
When we got settled at the table, he came directly to me and said in a hushed voice, “I know who you are, but I won’t say anything. I don’t want people bothering you for autographs.”
I thanked him and figured Wiggins, James Smith or Johnny Aaron had put him up to it.
Then we saw the waiter and restaurant manager studying us from across the room. They came over and the manager told me, “Mr. Uecker, I didn’t really think it was you until I saw you up close.”
They obviously thought I was Bob Uecker, the mediocre baseball player and humorous television personality who was facetiously dubbed by Johnny Carson as “Mr. Baseball.”
It offended me some, because Uecker has a face like an old catcher’s mitt.
I told the waiter he was mistaken and I was not Bob Uecker. He said, “I understand, Mr. Uecker. I won’t tell anybody.”
We had tickets the next night for the Don Ho Show at the huge Hilton Ballroom. The legendary singer was in the lobby signing photos of himself for fans.
Wiggins’ wife Susie wanted an autograph but wouldn’t go stand in line alone. Wiggins had no interest in meeting the performer, so I went with her.
When we got to the table, Susie said, “I bet you didn’t know you had a celebrity here for the show. It’s Bob Uecker.” Don Ho glanced up at me and just kept signing photos.
He never even acknowledged my presence. I figured it was because he knew without a doubt that I was not Bob Uecker.
We went to our seats near the back of the sprawling theater and waited for the show to start. We needed binoculars to see the stage.
The minute Don Ho walked out, he waved an arm toward the audience and said, “Bob Uecker is here. Come on up, Bob.”
I yelled, “Thanks for the great seats, Don,” as Uecker did in his Miller Lite commercials. Two guys in white suits with flashlights came through the crowd to get me.
When I got on stage, Don Ho asked what I wanted to sing. I told him Tiny Bubbles, which was his signature song.
He signaled the band to accompany me. When we got to the chorus, I asked the audience to join in. Ho stopped the band, held his microphone down and said he planned for me to do the chorus in English while he did it in Hawaiian.
I said, “I’ve already asked the audience to join me.” He smiled and said, “Hell, go ahead. It’s your show.”
The audience sang with me and we finished the song. Don Ho said, “Ladies and gentlemen…Bob Uecker,” and the men with the white suits and flashlights guided me back to my seat.
I have several pictures made by the hotel photographers to document the occasion.
Once in a while, I compare those photos to pictures of Bob Uecker and wonder how that waiter and Don Ho could possibly have mistaken me for Mr. Baseball.
REPRINTED FROM THE NATCHITOCHES TIMES