Bob Costas Apologizes To Chicago Cubs Reliever Pedro Strop After Bashing Him For Praying

Bob Costas has issued a formal apology to Pedro Strop just a few days after he came under fire for bashing the reliever during a Chicago Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals game. Bob Costas was calling the game for MLB Network when he went on what many have characterized as a rather odd diatribe. The announcer made the comments after Strop had surrendered the lead to the Cardinals and was exiting the ball game.

@ESPNChiCubs @BornOnThirdCubs Costas went there huh? pic.twitter.com/7G0tolOGg9

— Human Fund (@Gcarter3) June 27, 2015

Bob Costas seemed almost angry at Pedro Strop when he said, “Motte is on his way in, Strop is on his way out, pointing toward the heavens. We can only ask, or wonder that he is asking some departed relative for forgiveness for this atrocious performance.”

Not surprisingly, there were a number of people who took offense at what Bob Costas said, especially because they believed he was impugning Strop because he was doing a variation of praying.

Now the New York Daily News is reporting that Bob Costas realized that he owed the reliever an apology for the comments.

He told the paper, “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 said. “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).”

Bob Costas went on to say that his decision did not come from the outrage that his original comments engendered but because he genuinely realized he had gone over the top after watching the tape of the game. In fact, the announcer seemed a bit annoyed people might think he was apologizing because of Twitter rage.

“We live in an age of faux outrage, of disproportionate outrage. Everything is shocking, over the top. ‘He savaged Pedro Strop’ — I mean, come on, come on.”

This is hardly the first time in the last month that Bob Costas has gotten himself into hot water over comments he made. Bob Costas wasn’t as welcoming as other members of the media were when Caitlyn Jenner was introducing herself to the world.

[Photo Courtesy Tom Pennington / Getty Images]