Bob Costas inexplicably botched a play-by-play call in a pivotal moment during Wednesday's Game 3 of the American League Division Series between the Kansas City Royals and visiting New York Yankees.
It happened in the bottom of the eighth inning with one out and a runner on first as the Yankees were holding on to a 3-2 lead. On the first pitch of his at-bat, Royals batter Vinnie Pasquantino hit a line drive towards the edge of the outfield grass. Costas, calling play-by-play for the game with Ron Darling on TBS, immediately made the call "Line drive, base hit to center field!"
Just one problem: the ball stayed in the air long enough for Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe to move to his left and make a diving catch for the second out of the inning. That left Costas scrambling to clean up his poor call as Volpe sat up to keep Royals runner Bobby Witt Jr. from advancing to second.
“Line drive base hit to center field!” -Bob Costas pic.twitter.com/UenniNg8z6
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) October 10, 2024
Costas: "It was smothered out there. I don't know if it was caught."
Darling: "It was caught."
Costas: "Oh my gosh. What a play."
Over the years, Costas has been considered one of the best baseball announcers in the game, but this was not one of his best moments. Hopefully he will be better in Game 4. As we know from the 2014 Sochi Olympics when he continued to broadcast from the studio despite having two pink eyes, he has dealt with adversity before.
The Yankees held on to win the game 3-2 and take a 2-1 lead in the ALDS. Game 4 is Thursday night.
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
