If you watched the TBS broadcast of the New York Yankees-Cleveland Guardians Game 1 on Tuesday night, you were most likely dissatisfied with Bob Costas’ call of the game (alongside Mets sympathizer Ron Darling). In 22 years, he hasn’t called a full playoff series.
What is Bob Costas thinking about the Yankees’ Harrison Bader HR review?
He literally did not stop talking for the duration of the three-hour game. The majority of what he said distracted and lost the audience. It left viewers bored or exhausted.
Despite his soothing voice and ability to hold a conversation, he did not benefit from those qualities on this particular night.
His home run calls lacked vigor and zeal. His anecdotes in between those bigger moments were uninteresting to the general public. Simply look up his name on Twitter.
You’ll notice some unsavory reactions. Don’t assassinate the messenger.
Perhaps it was a bad night for the 70-year-old. Maybe Harrison Bader’s home run in the third inning caught Costas off guard. After all, it was his first game with the Yankees.
On top of the phone being relatively dull (his words certainly did not match the roaring Yankee Stadium crowd and the fact that it was a game-tying shot after Steven Kwan’s homer off Gerrit Cole had silenced the fans), Costas had this to say when Bader returned to the dugout:
"[Harrison] Bader still in the afterglow of the blast he just unloaded."
– Bob Costas 😆 #RepBX pic.twitter.com/skdGoxcDvy
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 12, 2022
Is Bob trying out for a job as a broadcaster with Brazzers? What on earth is going on? We don’t need to go into detail about how that was misinterpreted as an innuendo you’d never hear from a 70-year-old man.
But enough of that. His usual call of Bader’s home run was… a nice tie-in to the story he was telling, but it wasn’t “it.”
“And Bader may change the scoreboard” Costas doesn’t miss a beat 😅 https://t.co/ffQky99KVX
— Mario Rossi 🐶🏀 (@mariovrossi) October 12, 2022
Make your own decision. Bader’s shot was somewhat unexpected, given that he hadn’t yet hit one over the net for New York this season.
But perhaps the timing of Anthony Rizzo’s game-winning blast should have been better planned?
ANTHONY RIZZO TWO-RUN BLAST!!!
pic.twitter.com/5EV4No6kd1— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) October 12, 2022
Maybe we’re being too picky. Outside of the home run calls and general aspects of the broadcast from beginning to end, that Bader comment was out of this world.
When is the Apple TV team going to show up? Those young broadcasters could advise Costas on what may or may not be interpreted as an adult film reference.