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MLB Network broadcaster Bob Costas. Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

Bob Costas addresses Guardians-Yankees ALDS performances

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 3/6/23

Legendary broadcaster Bob Costas has addressed his widely criticized calls during the 2022 American League Division Series between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees.

"This past October I did the Yankees and the Guardians in the Division Series and I felt like I was off my game," Costas admitted during an appearance on the "Club Random with Bill Maher" podcast, per Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated.

"Sort of like a pitcher who still has good stuff, but somehow, as they say, he didn’t have command, that night. I could feel it. In the first five or six innings of the first game, it’s the same philosophy, same approach, but I wasn’t nailing it. It didn’t have the same flow and rhythm to it. There were a few awkward moments. I hadn’t worked that much with (analyst) Ron Darling, only two or three games. Very smart guy. Guy I like."

Fans posting on Twitter roasted Costas after he referred to Guardians ace Shane Bieber as Justin Bieber during Game 2 of the series that the Yankees ultimately won in five contests.

"Justin Bieber just threw his 84th pitch."

Bob Costas just called Guardians P Shane Bieber, Justin Bieber pic.twitter.com/0gTlYKv4gN
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) October 14, 2022

Sports radio legend Mike Francesa then generated headlines when he said that Costas would "not shut up" during portions of games, and Andrew Marchand of the New York Post wrote that Costas' work "was tedious" during parts of the series.

According to Awful Announcing's Andrew Bucholtz, Costas was calling his first full MLB playoff series since 2000. Costas was later relegated to pre and postgame coverage for the AL Championship Series between the Yankees and Houston Astros which Houston won in a four-game sweep.

"Now, I don’t place much stock in what two or three people say on Twitter, because on Twitter, there’s no misdemeanors," Costas told Maher. "There’s only felonies. But when I knew myself that it just wasn’t what I’ve generally been able to do — and I wasn’t comparing myself to 1995 when I’m doing the World Series, I was comparing myself to August and September of last season when things were as they usually were. And somehow, I might have gotten a little better as the five games went along, but it wasn’t what I intended to do."

Costas also mentioned that he felt he "dropped the ball" during the series.

While CBS lead NFL analyst Tony Romo raised eyebrows when he said last month that "you can’t please everyone" following numerous negative reviews of his calls this past season, Costas deserves credit for acknowledging that he's produced better performances than his ALDS work last fall.

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