By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo: Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP/File
Bob Costas, one of the best announcers of all time, is retiring from calling MLB play-by-play action.
Costas is 72 years old. He has done it all. He is a versatile broadcaster who called games for 44 years, an accomplishment that not many play-by-play announcers can reach.
His last gig was calling postseason games on MLB on TBS with Ron Darling. Costas wasn’t at his best, and his chemistry with Darling was off. In addition, the production from the TBS crew was lousy.
However, his time at TBS doesn’t overshadow what he accomplished overall.
Costas’s best years as an announcer came during his stint with NBC Sports. Costas calling baseball games, especially in the 90s with Joe Morgan and Bob Uecker, were amazing memories. Fans remember that the most.
He called the final moments of the 1997 Game 7 between the Cleveland Indians and Florida Marlins, where the Marlins won in extra innings to win their first championship.
Costas wishes he could’ve done a better job calling the moment where Edgar Renteria delivered the game-winning but.
His work on the NBA on NBC from 1998 to 2000 was astonishing. His signature moment came in 1998 NBA Finals Game 6, which is infamously known as Michael Jordan’s last game with the Chicago Bulls.
Costas called Jordan “The Last Shot” very beautifully:
“17 seconds from Game 7, or from Championship number 6, Jordan, open, Chicago with the lead. Time out, Utah, 5.2 seconds left, Michael Jordan running on fumes with 45 points.”
Two years later, Costas made another impressive call, but a simpler one. It wasn’t the quotes but the emotion of the moment. The game was the 2000 Western Conference Finals Game 7 between the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers.
Kobe Bryant threw an alley-oop to Shaquille O’Neal in the game’s final minute.
“Kobe to SHAQ!” Costas’s comment made it epic.
Bob Costas has won 29 Emmy awards – more than any sports broadcaster.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com
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