Bob Costas apologizes for harsh words about Pedro Strop

Veteran broadcaster Bob Costas admitted that he owes Pedro Strop an apology for being unnecessarily harsh towards the pitcher during Friday’s game against the Cardinals.

Costas was calling the play-by-play action of the game for MLB Network and took exception with Strop pointing to the sky after being pulled following a shaky outing.

“Strop is on his way out, pointing toward the heavens. We can only wonder that he is asking some departed relative for forgiveness for this atrocious performance,” Costas said.

Costas was clearly being sarcastic, but his comments were just unnecessary and overboard (watch the video here). He recognized that and told the New York Daily News that he wanted to set up a meeting with Strop to apologize.

“The tone of it was not what I intended. I intended it as a kind of sarcastic comment about this overall thing where everybody seems to be pointing toward the heavens for every accomplishment, large and small, or even for no accomplishment at all,” Costas told the Daily News. “I inadvertently appeared harsh toward Strop. That wasn’t my intention. And so I owe him an apology. And I will apologize to him (Sunday).”

Costas’ producer notified the broadcaster that the comments came across harsher than intended. After watching the clip, Costas agreed and said he “winced” at what he heard. He then moved to make a mends. Costas called a Cubs media relations official in an attempt to set up a meeting with Strop to apologize. They tried to set something up for Saturday, but Costas had a previous commitment, which is why he wants to meet with Strop on Sunday.

I didn’t think the comments from Costas were quite as bad as they were made out to be by many others on the internet. I felt Costas was improvising and trying to express some sarcasm about Strop pointing to the sky, and his words came out with more of a biting, personal edge than he intended. Costas recognizes that, which is why he is apologizing. That’s really all you can ask for when someone makes a mistake — recognize it, own it, and apologize for it.