Two weeks ago, Bob Costas announced his retirement as a Major League Baseball announcer, a position he’s held for more than 44 years. Back in 1995, we met at a celebrity pool tournament, the Kirby Puckett Eight-Ball Invitational in Minnesota where, along with many baseball luminaries, we raised money for the Kirby Puckett Children’s Heartlink benefit which helps indigent children with heart problems. Costas and Puckett were good friends for years, at least until Puckett’s train came off the track in his personal life. But that’s a story for another time.

Costas is a man I never expected to meet until I was invited to this tournament. It was a two-person team event, and my partner was future Hall of Fame major leaguer Eddie Murray. Future Hall of Famers Paul Molitor and Cal Ripken, Jr. were also there, and entertainer Roy Firestone performed at the dinner we enjoyed afterward. But the most memorable part of that magical day (at least for me, a lifelong baseball fan) was meeting and playing against Costas, whose final call as a play-by-play announcer came at the end of Game 4 of this year’s American League Division series between the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals.

Eddie and I were playing against Bob and his son Keith Michael Kirby Costas ( named after Puckett, one of Bob’s favorites). I was not a pool player and didn’t understand many of the rules, but Eddie and I held our own through matches against Molitor and several others leading up to our match with the Costas team. Our match was tight until 9-year-old Keith knocked the cue ball into a pocket and scratched. After that, we cleared the table and the Murray-Haraldsen team was victorious! I don’t recall which team won the whole thing, but it didn’t matter. We raised a lot of money for children in need.

During the match, Bob and I talked about baseball, what he called “my favorite sport,” the St. Louis Rams someday moving back to Los Angeles (“St. Louis is a baseball town, not football”), which happened in 2016; and whether the Utah Jazz would win an NBA Championship (“I’m guessing they probably won’t”). He loved St. Louis and considered it his hometown, even though he was born in New York. Today, he lives in Newport Beach, California. He was down-to-earth while we played pool and he and Murray talked to me like we were old friends.

Later that night, Costas and his family sat by me at dinner where Firestone entertained. We shared a few laughs and everyone was happy when we learned how much money our one-day pool tournament had raised for Children’s Heartlink (about $1.2 million). Then the evening ended. We went our separate ways, I flew home to Salt Lake City the next day with a lot of pleasant memories, and I’ve never seen or been around Costas again. 

In 2018, Bob Costas received the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcast excellence from the Baseball Hall of Fame. At the time, he humbly said, “Even if you're coming off the bench, you’re on the same team as Jack Buck, Vin Scully, Ernie Harwell, Red Barber, Harry Caray and Mel Allen,” all legendary announcers. 

Costas has long carried a 1958 Mickey Mantle card in his wallet, a nod to his boyhood hero, the star whose games he listened to on his transistor radio growing up in New York. They eventually became friends, and Costas delivered the eulogy at Mantle’s funeral. Costas later did the eulogy for Cardinals great Stan Musial as well. He has 29 Emmy Awards, which is 28 more than I have (maybe another story for another day). 

I’ve had a lot of amazing experiences in my years as a journalist and publicist, and when I learned of Costas’ retirement, I had to share this one. He has been one of the greats in baseball announcing, as well as for NBC’s Olympics coverage. He will be missed. λ