Bob Costas on calling Yankees-Guardians, his first full playoff series in 22

The last time Bob Costas called every pitch of an MLB postseason series, Alex Rodriguez was a 24-year-old shortstop for the Seattle Mariners, Orlando (El Duque) Hernandez was spinning magic for the New York Yankees, and “Meet The Parents” was the No. 1 movie in America.

So, yeah, it’s been a bit.

But with TBS serving as the exclusive home of the 2022 American League Division Series, Costas (joined by analyst Ron Darling and reporter Lauren Shehadi) will be at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday for Game 1 of the Yankees-Guardians ALDS. After calling that series, Costas will serve as the onsite studio host (alongside Pedro Martinez, Jimmy Rollins and Curtis Granderson) for TBS’ coverage of the American League Championship Series. (Brian Anderson, Jeff Francoeur and Matt Winer will have the Mariners-Astros series.)

Costas was a guest on my sports media podcast this week and we had a terrific conversation on a variety of topics, including where he sees himself as a baseball broadcaster at age 70, whether network broadcasters can be critical of NFL owners, his thoughts on Vince McMahon, and the time Jack Nicholson declined his interview during the NBA Finals. You can listen to the entire conversation by clicking on the link at the end of this Q&A, which has been edited for length.

Why has baseball been a lifelong love affair where it seems you were OK to give up the NFL or the NBA?

Not only to give up the NFL, I initiated giving up the NFL twice during the course of my career and only returned to it when NBC got “Sunday Night Football” because of my relationship with (former NBC Sports head) Dick Ebersol.