You’re welcome, baseball fans. 

It wasn’t easy, but someone had to finally step up and confront Bob Costas for his unbelievably painful MLB broadcasting this past postseason. 

I don’t normally like calling out legends, but I gave Mr. Costas TWO postseason chances and he refused to listen or take my advice on adapting his broadcast style to be less talking-down, as if we were sitting in a classroom, as well as to stop speaking in soundbites like we are still in the 1960s. 

My message was simple: It’s 2024, Bob, and things have changed. Clearly, I was right, as Bob Costas has officially retired from baseball play by play. 

COSTAS RETIRES AFTER 44 YEARS OF DOING MLB PBP

Bob Costas’s final broadcast was last month’s ALDS between the Yankees and the Kansas City Royals in which he found his name trending across social media during every single game. As I wrote at the time, it’s one thing to have your name trend for one day, but when it’s multiple times in a week, and it happens to coincide with your broadcasting duties? Yeah, that’s not ideal.

I truly mean no disrespect and God knows Bob Costas has paved the way for generations of current and future broadcasters, including myself. But when it came to MLB in particular, he just didn’t have it anymore. His style didn’t resonate anymore and rather than adapt or try to play the game of being relevant, the aging Costas stood his ground. With a Hall of Fame broadcast resume like he has, he clearly earned his right to do so. But don’t blame me, Bob, for your own actions!

As I wrote at the time, Costas’s recent MLB broadcasting stints sounded as if he was doing an NBC Olympics broadcast and explaining to viewers a game that none of us have seen or were familiar with. With such a vast knowledge of the history of the game and countless insider stories, Costas would have been much better as a pre or post-game analyst – not play-by-play. 

In one instance, Costas literally went on for over 2 minutes rambling about the many members of the Boone family and how they have been a part of MLB history by likening it to the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. First off, no one under the age of 30 even knows who Kevin Bacon is, and second, Bob decided to bring this up during a 9th inning comeback by the Yankees. Not the perfect time to do so. Heck, even Costas’s broadcast partner Ron Darling was thinking, “WTF is happening right now?”

COSTAS HAD A ROUGH MLB POSTSEASON IN RECENT YEARS

Speaking with The Athletic, Costas confirmed that he would be stepping away from MLB PBP duties after 44-years, adding that he “would prefer to address the decision and his MLB play-by-play career at a later date.”

The good news for Costas is that although his MLB run is over, there will be plenty of other broadcast opportunities for him as there’s a different set of Olympics games every two years. Or who knows, maybe he can take up pickleball broadcasting – I hear it’s a big hit at the retirement communities these days!

Just kidding, Bob. Thanks for everything – including the content during this past MLB postseason.

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF BOB COSTAS? TWEET ME: @TheGunzShow