80 CARDINALS MAGAZINE @CardsMagazine
Costas has plenty to smile about in 2018: a HOF
broadcast award, an Opening Night shout-out from
the Cardinals and a June 25 bobblehead night.We put Bob Costas’ broadcasting
reflexes to work, asking him to field a few
short hops in rapid-fire succession. Bob
being Bob, he couldn’t help to elaborate
(eloquently, of course) along the way.
Bulldozed ballpark we should bring back:
COSTAS: Ebbets Field. I went to
one game at Ebbets Field. I was 5 years
old. My father took me. All I remember
is sitting on his shoulders so I could see
over the people in front of us. It was in
a neighborhood, and a lot of the players
lived in the neighborhood. They walked
- it seems crazy – from their homes and
apartments to the ballpark.
Favorite current ballpark to watch – not
work – a game:
COSTAS: I’m going to give a
diplomatic answer. Favorite American
League park: Fenway. Favorite National
League park: Wrigley. Because of all the
history there. Among the new parks,
PNC Park in Pittsburgh is beautiful. The
original retro-ballpark, Camden Yards
in Baltimore, is wonderful. AT&T Park
really is wonderful, and it’s in San Francisco,
which doesn’t hurt.
All-time Top 3 baseball broadcasters:
COSTAS: You know, it’s a question that
you shy away from. You don’t want to slight
anybody. For the combination of talent and
longevity, you have to put Vin Scully there. I’d
put Jack Buck there, too, and then I would call
it about a 10-way tie for third place.
Best player not in the Hall of Fame and not
on the ballot:
COSTAS: Boy, that’s a good one. There
was a time when Dale Murphy, who won
back-to-back MVPs, was, by acclamation, the
best player in baseball, and then he just didn’t
sustain it. The same thing was true of Don
Mattingly. He was, at one time, considered to
be the best player in baseball, and then back
problems ended his career at age 34. So, in
relatively recent history, there are two guys
you could make a case for. Cardinals fans will
tell you that you could make a heck of a case
for Ted Simmons.Player to have at the plate with the World
Series on the line:
COSTAS: Wow. If you need the
combination of a base hit and power, of
players I’ve seen, even if I only saw them
a little, you’d take Stan Musial or Ted
Williams. If you just needed a base hit in the
modern era, Tony Gwynn or Ichiro Suzuki.
And you know, at his best, Albert Pujols was
pretty darn good, too.Pitcher you’d want on the mound to sew it
up:
COSTAS: If you’re going lefty, Sandy
Koufax. If you’re going righty, Bob Gibson.Most exciting player in baseball at
present:
COSTAS: The most interesting
player is Shohei Ohtani. The best player
all-around is Mike Trout, but the most
exciting player, where no one leaves
their seat when he comes up to bat, is
Aaron Judge. He may hit it to New
Jersey. Plus he’s got the cool name, and
he’s got the Judge’s Chamber.Most enjoyable interview ever:
COSTAS: If I confine it to baseball,
Ted Williams opened up to me. I don’t
know why. He just liked me. At the
time I did my first interview with him,
which was in 1988, he had not done an
extended interview of any kind in 15 to
20 years. He sat with me on the radio
for two hours, and then we did three
separate half-hour shows that ran on
consecutive nights on the old “Later”
television program.
As great as Stan Musial was, he (also)
was accessible. Stan was so nice. He’d
talk to anybody, and he was always
a great interview. But interviewing
Ted was like getting an interview with J.D.
Salinger. So, I would put him there, but there
have been others. Whitey Herzog was always
a good interview because he was funny. He’s
really funny.A really difficult interview:
COSTAS: Barry Bonds wasn’t the most
forthcoming guy in the world, but in fairness,
I can’t say Bonds for me because he actually
sat with me a couple of times. In baseball,
none really stand out. I’ve been pretty lucky.Olympic city you’d most like to go back to:
COSTAS: Barcelona.And the one you wouldn’t go back to under
any circumstances:
COSTAS: Sochi, because why do anything
to, in any way, enrich Vladimir Putin?Quick hits: Jack, Stan, Whitey, Albert