Bob Costas retires from MLB play-by-play duties

Legendary baseball broadcaster Bob Costas is retiring from MLB play-by-play duties after four-plus decades, as first reported by The Athletic.

Costas will discuss the news and his play-by-play career on Monday’s MLB Tonight at 6 p.m. ET. Costas, an MLB Network original, has called MLB Network Showcase telecasts since the network launched in 2009. Additionally, Costas has contributed to multiple shows and series, such as MLB Now, Studio 42 with Bob Costas, MLB’s 20 Greatest Games, The Sounds of Baseball and Costas at the Movies.

Before his time with MLB Network, Costas was already one of the most prominent sports broadcasters, covering the Olympics, the NFL, the NBA, boxing, golf and NASCAR. With respect to those sports, however, Costas’ voice became synonymous with baseball.

Costas began calling national baseball games for NBC in the 1980s and later broadcast for ESPN, ABC, CBS and, most recently, TBS. Costas’ final game broadcast came for TBS in Game 4 of the 2024 ALDS between the Yankees and Royals.