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In 1998, Bob Uecker abruptly left NBC Sports before a chance to call the [[1998 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]]<ref>{{YouTube|title=MARK MCGWIRE KEN GRIFFEY JR MLB ALL STAR GAME PROMO COMMERCIAL NBC|id=G80-CP9o08s}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|title=1998 All-Star Game: AL defeats NL, 13-8|id=7Ah0vroOohY}}</ref> from [[Coors Field]] in [[Denver, Colorado|Colorado]]. Uecker underwent a back operation in which four discs were replaced. For the remainder of the contract (1998–2000), only Bob Costas and [[Joe Morgan]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Kent |first=Milton |date=6 October 1998 |title=With Uecker unavailable, Costas, Morgan ready to tag-team ALCS |url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-10-06/sports/1998279086_1_bob-uecker-joe-morgan-bob-costas |newspaper=Baltimore Sun |location=|access-date=}}</ref> called the games. Also in 1998, NBC's coverage of the [[1998 American League Championship Series|ALCS]] was the highest rated for any League Championship Series since before the [[1994–95 Major League Baseball strike|1994 strike]]. NBC averaged a 9.4 rating for the six games, which was a 6% increase than the network's coverage of the [[1997 National League Championship Series|1997 NLCS]] in the same time slot. The rating was 13% more than Fox's ALCS coverage in [[1997 American League Championship Series|1997]] and 12% more than NBC's coverage in [[1996 American League Championship Series|1996]].
In 1999, Bob Costas teamed with his then-NBC colleague [[Joe Morgan]] to call two weekday night telecasts for [[ESPN Major League Baseball|ESPN]]. The first was on [[Wednesday Night Baseball|Wednesday]], August 25 with [[1999 Detroit Tigers season|Detroit Tigers]] playing against the [[1999 Seattle Mariners season|Seattle Mariners]]. The second was on Tuesday, September 21 with the [[1999 Atlanta Braves season|Atlanta Braves]] playing against the [[1999 New York Mets season|New York Mets]]. Later that October, Costas and Morgan were on hand at New York's [[Shea Stadium]] for the 15 inning long fifth game of the NLCS between the Mets and Braves. The game ended with Mets third baseman [[Robin Ventura]] hitting what would become known as a "[[Grand Slam Single]]".
From October 23–27, NBC broadcast their 39th and to date, final [[1999 World Series|World Series]]. As previously mentioned, unlike NBC's prior two World Series (1995 and 1997), where Bob Uecker was in the booth, Bob Costas and Joe Morgan worked as a duo, as they had done since the 1998 All-Star Game. [[Hannah Storm]] again served as pre-game host with [[Barry Larkin]] this time, serving as the analyst. The [[field reporter]]s were [[Jim Gray (sportscaster)|Jim Gray]] ([[1999 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees']] dugout) and [[Craig Sager]] (in the Atlanta Braves' dugout) on loan from [[Turner Sports]].
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