Bob Costas was a titan at NBC for nearly 40 years, filling not only the most high-profile sportscasting roles at the network but in all of television. Prime-time host of 11 Olympics, a record. Anchor for numerous other major events, including Super Bowls, World Series, Triple Crown horse races and U.S. Open golf. Play-by-play of the World Series and NBA Finals.
He also had a late-night show that expanded beyond sports. In short, he was the face of NBC Sports, arguably the entire network, for the last three of his four decades there. He also branched out to roles on HBO, CNN and MLB Network, for which he still calls games.
Costas, now 67, began cutting back in recent years before having an abrupt and rough exit from NBC. He was dropped from its Super Bowl coverage in February 2018 after having been critical of the NFL, particularity in discussing long-term brain problems some of its players eventually suffer. He then disappeared until the Kentucky Derby about three months later before his last assignment came five weeks after that, as host of NBC’s Belmont Stakes telecast.
People are also reading…
But his departure never was announced by the network — and in fact didn’t even come to light for more than six months after the Belmont. That’s when the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand asked Costas last January about the situation and he acknowledged the sides had parted ways.
Costas later expounded in an interview with ESPN about his displeasure with the networks kowtowing to the NFL, and Costas’ departure from NBC obviously was fueled by his criticism of that league — the most powerful property in all of television and an organization his bosses obviously did not want to anger.
“We’re very disappointed that after 40 years with NBC, he has chosen to mischaracterize and share these private interactions after his departure,†an NBC spokesperson told CNN Business at the time.
It was a bumpy end to a tremendous career for arguably the greatest broadcaster ever.
The time is now
But while there was no farewell from NBC, Chicago Cubs announcer Pat Hughes has come up with a resounding tribute to Costas with the latest edition of his “Baseball Voices†series — audio compact discs that bring to life the careers of legendary baseball broadcasters.
“It’s very flattering that Pat would go to this trouble,†Costas said Thursday. “There were a lot of things on there that not only had I not heard in 25 or 30 years, there were some I didn’t even remember doing.â€
He shrugged off the suggestion that the two-CD production might make up for his unceremonious finish at NBC.
“I don’t have any feeling like I need some sort of valedictory,†Costas said. “It’s very nice that Pat did this, but that thought never crossed my mind. There’s a body of work there for anybody who wants to pay attention that speaks for itself.â€
He indicated he is not bitter toward NBC and its lack of acknowledging his career.
“I don’t think they intended it that way,†Costas said. “The whole thing could have gone down better. Maybe a small part of the blame for that lies with me, I don’t know. … I certainly didn’t need a parade or a laurel wreath or any sort of big on-air to-do. But I would have liked to have ended on a grace note rather than just sort of disappearing.
“But in the big picture of 40 years, that’s just a small note. There were so many high points and so many things we collaborated on that turned out extremely well, and so much great stuff to look back on.
“I would have preferred that it ended on that grace note, not just for me but for all the people I worked for and with at NBC. The way I would have crafted that grace note, no matter what form it took, would have been as a tip of the cap in appreciation to them as well. It’s a little bit of a shame that didn’t happen. But in the big picture, it’s just a footnote.
“... I think very few people can say there isn’t some thing that they’d like to tweak or change or have a mulligan on. ... But I don’t think it’s anybody’s fault. Sometimes things get jumbled a little bit, and that’s what happened here. But it’s not that big of a deal. I think I did pretty well overall.â€
Shining CDs
Hughes’ production, “Bob Costas, All-Star At Every Position†not only is aptly titled but showcases a career that started in ºüÀêÊÓƵ when he broadcast the American Basketball Association’s Spirits of ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ games in the mid-1970s before blossoming nationally. This is the third of the 16 tributes Hughes has produced that centers on a broadcaster with deep ºüÀêÊÓƵ ties, as Hughes also has masterful pieces on Harry Caray and Jack Buck.
“In the history of American broadcasting, there has never been anyone like Bob Costas,†Hughes says in opening the presentation. “Not even close. To call him immensely talented is simply stating the obvious. To say he possesses versatility is a masterpiece of understatement.â€
Given the theme of the series, “Baseball Voices,†the content focuses on that sport — Costas’ favorite. There aren’t any clips of his energetic Spirits calls (Costas’ voice cracks on one that was considered but was eliminated because Hughes says that while good it was “not representative of himâ€). Neither are there any cuts of his NBA or Olympic broadcasts.
But there are plenty of play-by-play gems from key baseball games he did, including the World Series. There is an excellent segment on “The Sandberg Game,†the June 1984 epic contest at Wrigley Field he called in which the Cubs’ Ryne Sandberg twice homered off Cardinals closer and future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter to tie the game. The Cubs, despite the Cards’ Willie McGee hitting for the cycle, won 12-11 in 11 innings.
But the Costas tribute isn’t merely a highlight reel. It glows, as the others do, by also moving outside the broadcast booth. Showcased are Costas’ many talents as an interviewer, interviewee and master of ceremonies along with his uncanny ability to ad-lib with nearly photographic recall that often is combined, when appropriate, with a humorous twist.
“You speak like people write,†comedian Jon Stewart tells him while interviewing Costas on his Comedy Central show.
Tidy tidbits
Here are some morsels from the CDs, many of which touch on figures with ºüÀêÊÓƵ roots:
• In that conversation with Stewart, Costas delivers this vignette about Cardinals icon Stan Musial, as told to him by Hank Aaron many years after the fact. Musial was at an All-Star Game in the 1950s, when integration was a big issue in baseball, and a group of black players (Aaron, Ernie Banks, Frank Robinson and Willie Mays) were playing cards.
“None of the white players were anywhere near them,†Costas says. “And Stan Musial, the longest-tenured and most respected of those National League stars, a guy whose career predates Jackie Robinson, casually walks across the clubhouse and sits down with those guys and says, ‘Deal me in.’ . . . That gesture, not just what it meant to those black players — but what did it say to the other white players in the clubhouse, many of whom came from the South? What did it say when the most respected among them did that simple decent thing? Stan Musial’s whole life was built on moments like that — plus winning seven batting titles.â€
• In an interview on the “Costas Coast to Coast†radio show, Caray is plugging his autobiography and says, “I don’t kiss and tell,†to which Costas immediately interjects “a good thing, otherwise you’d need 5(00)-600 pages, right?†drawing laughs from Caray.
• There is a compelling interview with Costas’ childhood hero, New York Yankees standout Mickey Mantle, who talks about his battles with alcohol and being uncomfortable with stardom, as well as Costas’ stirring eulogy at Mantle’s funeral.
• A “Coast to Coast†interview in 1988 with current Cardinals television analyst Tim McCarver, a former standout Cards catcher who went on to an unparalleled career as a network TV baseball analyst, still resonates more than three decades later. Costas brings up the fact that McCarver isn’t afraid to criticize players.
“If you can’t run a ball out four times a game, you’re not really giving your employer and the fans their worth,†McCarver says. “. . . We’ve been inundated with that not-hustling deal. I think ballplayers today have gotten into the habit of watching what they hit. I think it’s a bad habit.â€
• Costas also raised eyebrows through the years when he touched on politics, and included in the CDs is an interview he did with former New York governor Mario Cuomo that showcases his skills outside the sports world.
• The production’s last major track contains much of Costas’ speech in which he accepts the Ford Frick Award, presented by the Baseball Hall of Fame for excellence in broadcasting the sport, in 2018.
“I stand here as thrilled and excited as a kid attending his first big-league game, but now I bring with me a lifetime of baseball memories. . . . Membership here isn’t for a lifetime, it’s for all time.â€
Behind the scenes
Hughes said he wanted the title of the piece to be "Grand Master."
"But Bob said 'I'm uncomfortable with that, it's too heavy,'" Hughes said in an interview. "'Let's try something else.'"
So John Lowe, a longtime Detroit sportswriter and Hughes friend, came up with "All-Star at Every Position."
Hughes said he had so much material to sort through that for the first time it takes two discs to tell the broadcaster's story, over a total of an hour and 17 minutes that are fast moving. Hughes said he spent many hours in his car commuting to and from Wrigley Field listening to tapes of Costas' old "Coast to Coast" radio show and incorporates a lot of that in the CDs.
"I could have gone with three or even four CDs," Hughes said. "I try to blend history and intelligent deep things . . . along with humor and fun. That's always the goal."
It also is his first production involving a broadcaster who made his mark on television, not radio, and that presented a problem that Hughes hadn't run across before. Some TV calls aren't as descriptive as ones on radio because the television audience can see what's going on. So those don't translate to an audio CD.
Then there was another issue.
"For whatever reason, some producers and directors on television think it's real cool to have the crowd noise cranked up about two or three times higher than necessary," Hughes said. "As a result, it drowns out the play-by-play man's call. I had to eliminate some calls that he made that were darn good simply because you could barely hear him."
Hughes also said he considered including Costas' eulogy of Musial, but decided one such speech was enough.
"Mantle was the guy he absolutely idolized," Hughes said.
The bottom line
Hughes’ CDs are available online () or by mail at Baseball Voices, 2033 North Milwaukee Ave., Box 250, Riverwoods, Ill. 60015-3581. Phone orders also are accepted at 847-867-3682. Prices are $25 for the Costas two-part collection and $18 each for the Caray and Buck CDs. A package with all three of those broadcasters is $50. Shipping is included.
In addition to Costas, Caray and Buck, the other CDs feature Mel Allen, Red Barber, Marty Brennaman, Milo Hamilton (who had a brief ºüÀêÊÓƵ run), Harry Kalas, Denny Matthews, Jon Miller, Dave Niehaus, Bob Prince, Ron Santo, Chuck Thompson and Bob Uecker, as well as one that covers both Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons.
Costas not only is appreciative to now be among the group that Hughes has honored, he also lauds the amount of time Hughes has put in over the years assembling these CDs.
“He’s dedicated, there’s no doubt about it,†Costas said. “It shows not only his passion for baseball but his appreciation of the craft. I really think what he’s produced with this series is a historical document. If someone (too young to have heard) Red Barber or Mel Allen wants to get a feel for their work, that’s a pretty good compilation. It’s very very flattering to be included. . . . It’s a true broadcast history.â€