Bob Costas is retiring from play-by-play baseball after 42 years

NEW YORK – After 42 seasons, Bob Costas retires from play-by-play baseball.

Costas had played games for MLB Network and TBS Sports in recent seasons. His last matches were the American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals.

Costas’ contract with TBS expired at the end of the season, but his plans to retire from baseball play-by-play had been in the works for more than a year.

The Athletic was the first to report Costas’ play-by-play retirement from baseball. Costas plans to comment on his decision at a later date.

Baseball has always been Costas’ favorite sport. He called games on NBC from 1982-89 and again from 1994-2000. He was one of the announcers for the 1995 World Series and then the lead play-by-play voice for the Fall Classic in 1997 and ’99.

He joined TBS in 2021 to serve as studio host for its coverage of the National League Championship Series and subsequently called games for the past three seasons. TBS has had a package of regular season games on Tuesday nights with its postseason coverage since 2022.

Costas had also played games on MLB Network since its inception in 2009. He will continue to do some work for the network on major events, including the Baseball Hall of Fame announcement.

In 2018, he received the Ford C. Frick Award for Broadcasting Excellence from the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Costas is also known as the prime-time host of NBC’s Olympic coverage from 1992 to 2016. He also appeared as a commentator on sports issues on CNN.

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