Bob Costas is one of the most renowned broadcasters of the last 50 years, but he was far from his best in the 2024 MLB playoffs.
The 72-year-old drew criticism for some sleepiness during the ALDS series between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees. The decisive Game 4 would ultimately prove to be the final game of his career
Costas decided to retire following the playoffs, ending a legendary 44-year relationship with the sport. He recently sat down with MLB Network’s Tom Verducci to reflect on the decision.
“I knew for more than a year that this might be the end of it. You and I discussed it about a year and a half ago and I felt that I couldn’t consistently reach my past standard,” Costas admitted.
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“There might have been individual games or stretches within games, or moments in games that were just the same as if it was the 1990s or the early 21st century. But I couldn’t string enough of them together.”
After attending the famed Newhouse Broadcasting School at Syracuse, Costas joined KMOX in St Louis to call ABA games for the Spirits of Saint Louis and college basketball contests for the University of Missouri.
He joined NBC in 1980 and began calling primetime Saturday baseball games. Costas’s breakout came from the famous “Rhyne Sandberg” Chicago Cubs game midway through 1984.
Costas interviews Michael Jordan following the 1992 NBA Finals (
Image:
Getty Images)
Second-baseman Sandberg would hit two game-tying home runs off St Louis Cardinals star reliever Brent Sutter, prompting an ebullient Costas to shriek, “Do you believe it?”
Costas would remain with NBC until 2016 in a variety of roles, calling both NBA games and hosting the network’s Olympics coverage. He was on air for Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals as Michael Jordan secured his sixth championship.
Costas joined MLB Network in 2009 and TBS in 2021 in a part-time role. He would call one playoff series a season for TBS, concluding with this year’s. ALDS.
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He couldn’t help but make a baseball analogy when describing his reason for retiring to Verducci, making a comparison to the end of legendary Yankee Mickey Mantle’s career
“I have too much regard for the game, for the craft, and whatever my own standard has been to hit beneath my lifetime batting average…Which is why I’m grateful to MLB Network for replaying the sounds of baseball.”
Costas would emphasize how poor Mantle’s average fell during the last few seasons of his career. However, kids can look at the rest of his stats on a baseball card and understand how good his was in his prime – a luxury not afforded to broadcasters.
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