Bob Costas was a mess during the Royals-Yankees game last night

Every time Bob Costas gets on the microphone to do play-by-play for the Major League Baseball playoffs, things only get worse.

The famed broadcaster, a legend in the sports industry, has single-handedly undone all of those decades of hard work and iconic calls over the past week while continuing to be absolutely trashed on social media for his clueless play-by-play.

During the first ALDS game between the Yankees and Royals, I kept asking myself, “What the hell is Costas even talking about?” At one point, Costas was feeling so bad that I went on my favorite social media platform and eloquently confronted him had to speak up.

Costas' pace, cadence, delivery, choice of words, yadda yadda yadda, all infuriated viewers. Speaking of Seinfeld's famous “Yadda, Yadda, Yadda,” the last time Bob Costas was relevant in baseball was back in the '90s when he called NBC Game of the week.

The problem is that because Costas does baseball PBP so rarely, he doesn't realize that the game has changed. We no longer sit at four-hour baseball games waiting for the results of the late-night newscast.

This is the world of second-to-second transmission and information at our fingertips. MLB intentionally introduced pitch clocks and various rules to speed up the game. So when you hear Costas talking so damn slowly and in a monotone voice, fans get angry – if they even manage to stay awake!

Most importantly, Costas is absolutely LOSTING the younger audience, which is something MLB and the Turner Sports Network should 100% be worried about. The number of tweets where people said they turned on the radio instead of listening to Costas call the plays was WILD. In 2024, when people willingly turn on the radio in their homes, you know there is a serious problem with Bob Costas as the main host.

BOB COSTAS IS GOOD AS AN ANALYST BUT NOT AS A PLAY-BY-PLAY HOST

Costas also didn't do himself any favors with his actual style of play.

In this clip, he sounds depressed about Giancarlo Stanton committing a double play against one of the best Royals shortstops in the league, Bobby Witt Jr., while also saying it's NOT Stanton's fault (well, whose fault it is then, Bob?) has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. Costas' once illustrious legacy continues to be tarnished by his own doing.

SAY WHAT, BOB?

One of my favorite moments was when Costas so boldly announced that Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole was not using the automated Pitchcom device that allows the catcher and pitcher to better communicate with each other. “You see Cole doesn't use Pitchcom … but you can see him old-fashioned, nodding 'yes' or shaking 'no' because he has a real understanding of the history of baseball.”

Except Gerrit Cole literally used Pitchcom as Costas finished his sentence. That's a hell of a job, Bobby!

It depends: Play-by-play is a unique art form. You want to be the voice of authority and command, but with a balanced delivery and also some entertaining wit. The audience also wants a certain level of comfort in the announcer's voice. Instead, the audience's main complaint was that Costas talked down to the audience as if we were idiots or had never seen a baseball game before.

As I tweeted, Bob Costas is doing PBP like he's calling for the Olympics, which he's done for years, talking to an international audience about some sport whose rules no one knows. It's like listening to a boring college professor give a two-hour lecture in which he says a few words every 30 seconds.

The irony is that last year I and many others criticized Costas for behaving the same way during his PBP playoff coverage. Yet he didn't even bother to acknowledge the current situation and perhaps adapt.

The fact that “Bob Costas” is trending on social media with literally tens of thousands of posts absolutely trashing him in just TWO GAMES of broadcasts this week is not a good sign.

What do you think of Bob Costas as play-by-play host? TWEET ME: @TheGunzShow