Bummed-out Bob Costas call of Giancarlo Stanton-Bobby Witt Jr. double play is bizarre

Hmm...if I didn't know any better, I'd perceive a bit of New York Yankees bias in Bob Costas' voice on the call that ended the eighth inning of Game 2 of the ALDS.

Luckily, I do know better, and I also happened to hear Costas' entire Game 1 broadcast, during which he railed against the Yankee Stadium short porch ad nauseam, as if they'd just installed it ahead of the playoffs (total Orioles move).

Still, any Kansas City Royals fan who wants to throw their arms up in aggrieved fashion after hearing Costas' call of Bobby Witt Jr.'s sprawling double play certainly has the right to do so. If nothing else, it was bizarre to hear the veteran micsman express what sounded like genuine disappointment at the fact that Yankees star Giancarlo Stanton is no longer able to leg out a double play rocket.

Let's just say this one won't be ascending into Costas' pantheon of calls alongside "And what's this?" from the Jeffrey Maier incident. Fun fact, Maier now has a 1.25 MPH faster average sprint speed than Stanton.

Yankees bias perceived in Bob Costas' Giancarlo Stanton-Bobby Witt Jr. call during ALDS Game 2

Who knows what was at play here? Sympathy toward Stanton? Resignation to the fact that there'd be no storied comeback, or any reason to alter the timbre of his voice in the ninth inning? The onset of the type of depression that keeps manifesting in the Bronx for the majority of the past 15 Octobers?

Regardless, Witt Jr. deserved better. He's one of the game's young sparklers, and his offense has yet to show up in his first ALDS. This defensive play was significant, even if it did come at the expense of Stanton and his cement shoes. Somehow, the call had the level of enthusiasm you'd usually associate with a beloved family pet coughing.

Costas and Ron Darling will be traveling to Kansas City for Game 3, where they might yet be won over by the home crowd. After all, all the walls are a normal distance away from home plate. Costas has got to love that.