Hall of Fame Sportscaster Bob Costas '74 Reflects on Career, Baseball and His Love of Syracuse University on the ‘’Cuse Conversations’ Podcast

Bob Costas ’74 grew up idolizing New York Yankees’ Hall of Fame outfielder Mickey Mantle during the Golden Age of Major League Baseball, when New York City, with Mantle’s Yankees, Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers and Willie Mays’ New York Giants, was at the epicenter of the sport.

Costas loved listening to baseball on the radio, and he became enamored with the melodic voices and creative storytellers of the day. Hall of Famers like Mel Allen, Red Barber and Vin Scully.

When he arrived at Syracuse University in the fall of 1970 as an aspiring broadcast journalist, Costas just wanted to one day land a radio play-by-play job in baseball. Little did Costas know he would one day wind up in Cooperstown as a Major League Baseball Hall of Famer alongside Mantle and his childhood heroes.

“If I was throwing the rubber ball off a wall and imagining a game in my head as all kids did, I heard Mel Allen or Red Barber or Vin Scully. If I was shooting baskets, I heard Marty Glickman and then his protege, Marv Albert. And part of the reason why, a big part why I went to Syracuse University, is because Marty Glickman and Marv Albert had gone to Syracuse. And so, too by then had Dick Stockton and Len Berman and others,” says Costas, the only person in television history to have won Emmys for sports, news and entertainment.

“Since then, it’s become a list too long to count. It’s Sportscaster U. To me, a game wasn’t a game without those great and often melodic voices that gave the game lyrics and melody almost that quintessential example of that is Vin Scully with the great lyrics and this melodic and rhythmic case and delivery that he had that was perfectly suited to baseball. That wasn’t a partial influence. It was a major influence in my wanting to become a sports broadcaster,” Costas adds.

Costas’ broadcasting career has included winning 28 Emmy Awards, calling 12 Olympics, and covering multiple World Series, Super Bowls and NBA Finals. The WAER Hall of Famer still calls baseball games and makes appearances on MLB Network and CNN, and hosts “Back On the Record with Bob Costas” on HBO.

On this “’Cuse Conversation,” Costas discusses his love for baseball and the new rule changes meant to speed up the pace of play, reveals which broadcasters inspired him, remembers thinking his career was doomed to fail after hearing his first sportscast, shares how WAER and the Newhouse School helped him develop his voice and his style, and relives his most memorable sportscasting moments.

Note: This conversation was edited for brevity and clarity.

Check out episode 134 of the “’Cuse Conversations” podcast featuring Bob Costas ’74. A transcript [PDF] is also available.

Helping celebrate the best of Syracuse University, Costas will be among the many participants in Thursday’s Boost the ’Cuse broadcast schedule—a day to come together to support Syracuse and show what it means to be Forever Orange.