Bob Costas calling Yankees-Royals ALDS is big break for New York

Bob Costas will be the lead play-by-play man for TBS’ broadcast of the American League Division Series between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees. How happy you are to hear that news may depend less on your opinion of Costas and more on who you are pulling for in the series.

If you’re pulling for the Royals, Costas calling the series may not be good news. This is the case even if you’re a fan of Costas. Conversely, if you’re pulling for the Yankees, Costas calling the series is fantastic news — even if you’re not a particularly big fan of Costas’ style. Because when Costas calls the Yankees in the playoffs, they win.

Since 1995, Costas has been on the call for 34 Yankees playoff games. That’s more than any announcer other than Joe Buck, who’s called 90. New York is 26-8 in those games. The 26 wins are again, second to only Buck (50). The eight losses, though, are only fourth most of any announcer, trailing Buck (40), Brian Anderson (13) and Ernie Johnson (10). The comparisons to Anderson and Johnson are more notable, as Costas has called far more Yankees postseason games than Anderson and Johnson. who have called 19 and 18, respectively.

There’s even better news for the Yankees and their fans. If Costas is calling the final game of the series, history says that the Yankees will be the team celebrating. Costas has called seven series-clinching games for the Yankees. Again, that’s second only to Buck. But while Buck has called one more series-clinching win for the Yankees, he’s also called seven series-ending losses. Costas, on the other hand, has not called any.

New York’s series wins called by Costas came in the 1996 ALCS (Baltimore Orioles), 1998 ALDS (Texas Rangers), 1998 ALCS (then-Cleveland Indians), 1999 ALDS (Texas Rangers), 1999 World Series (Atlanta Braves), 2000 ALCS (Seattle Mariners) and 2022 ALDS (Cleveland Guardians).

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