Iconic sports broadcaster Bob Costas has been named the recipient of Baseball Digest’s 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award, the organization announced Thursday.
Baseball Digest’s Lifetime Achievement Award, which debuted in 2021, annually recognizes “a living individual whose career has been spent in or around Major League Baseball and has made significant contributions to the game,” according to a news release.
Costas, 73, was selected from a list of 10 finalists that included Cincinnati Reds and former Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona, as well as Jim Leyland, Lou Piniella, Tony La Russa, Bud Selig, Sandy Koufax, Jim Kaat, Janet Marie Smith and Jaime Jarrín. He becomes the fifth recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, following Willie Mays (2021), Vin Scully (2022), Joe Torre (2023) and Dusty Baker (2024).
“Baseball hasn’t just been a big part of my career. It’s been a big and ongoing part of my life,” Costas said in a statement. “Someone once said of me, ‘He is a citizen of the game.’ I hope that was true. I hope I have meant something to the game. I know it has meant a great deal to me. Because of my fondness for Baseball Digest -- past and present -- my respect for the members of the voting panel and reverence for those previously honored, this award means a great deal to me.”
Costas has hosted or called seven MLB World Series, 10 League Championship Series and eight All-Star Games. He has won 29 Emmy Awards, the most among any sports broadcaster.
In 2018, Costas was the recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award, which is awarded annually to a broadcaster for “major contributions to baseball,” according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
In November 2024, however, Costas announced his retirement as a play-by-play voice for MLB after more than four decades.
“For nearly a half century, Bob Costas has been the voice of a wide array of sports, but none have been closer to his heart than baseball,” Baseball Digest publisher David Fagley said in a statement. “He has been a consummate professional, winning more Emmy Awards than any other sports broadcaster, but most importantly, he has been a fan whose love of the game is so evident in his work.”
In addition to his baseball broadcasting, Costas has also called 12 Summer Olympic Games, 10 NBA Finals and seven Super Bowls for NBC.