Brewers Opening Day matchup begins with loving tribute to Bob Uecker from ESPN

Heading into Opening Day this year, Milwaukee Brewers fans' hearts are a little heavier than usual. While the day does bring the the return of baseball after what feels like an eternity, it also marks the first season since 1971 without the legendary Bob Uecker who passed away this past January.

There is no way to distill a life and career as rich as Uecker's into a passage and for every Brewers fan, coach, executive, and player, it is difficult to describe Milwaukee baseball without Uecker. It just doesn't feel right to have a Brewers season start without him, but here we are.

While the sting of losing Uecker is going to linger for a long time, this season is an opportunity to celebrate Uecker's life and ESPN got that off to a great start with a loving tribute to Uecker before the start of Milwaukee's matchup against the Yankees.

Tribute to Bob Uecker before start of Opening Day was perfect, yet bittersweet

While it is tough to talk about Uecker in the past tense, it sure was nice to hear his voice again in the montage ESPN put together. Some of his most iconic calls from over the years were included and it was a reminder of what made him so special not only to Brewers fans, but to baseball fans everywhere. As the broadcast accurately put it, "There is a big hole in the heart of the Brewers family."

After that, the game got going and it is safe to say it wasn't exactly what one would hope for to start the season. Jackson Chourio struck out in his first two plate appearances and both Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe connected for early homers off of Freddy Peralta. It was fun to see one of the stars of spring training in Vinny Capra connect for a homer at least.

Still, one cannot help but wonder what Uecker would have said on the broadcast in this moment. He would have probably cracked some jokes, told some stories, and nailed every single call like he always did. Perhaps that is his greatest legacy: that when even a game isn't immediately going your way, baseball is still a hell of a lot of fun to watch and we should savor every single inning.

More Brewers News from Reviewing the Brew