By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: Robert Sabo, NY Post
The legendary New York Mets radio voice, Howie Rose, announced on Thursday that the 2026 season will be his last.
Rose spent four decades with the Mets. He’s been a fixture with the franchise since 1987, and he’s a figure that’s very respected and beloved in New York. Rose is 72 years old, and he has dealt with health issues such as cancer treatment on his bladder in 2022. Rose is at a point in his life where he wants to take it slow and cut down on traveling.
Broadcasting is not an easy job. It’s not as simple as it looks when people watch it on the TV screen. There’s a lot of preparation, knowledge, and focus that goes into the profession. Rose has done it for so long and was great at it. His broadcasting career with the Mets began in 1987, exactly one year after the Mets won their last World Series championship, defeating the Boston Red Sox in seven games.
In terms of being the play-by-play radio man, he’s been at the booth calling the Mets games since 2006. In that same season, the Mets won the NL East division title and came just one win short of reaching the World Series. It would’ve been one amazing story if Rose had witnessed the Mets reach the World Series or even win the World Series in his first year at the radio booth.
One of his most famous calls came during the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Finals between the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers. It was Game 7 between two fierce rivals. If you watched the game, you would understand the impact and the chills Rose said while calling the game. Rose said the famous line,” ‘Matteau! Matteau! Matteau! When the Rangers scored the game-winning goal in overtime to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, they eventually won it all.
Here are Rose’s plans for the new and final season:
- Call all 81 home games at Citi Field
- three Subway Series games
- playoff game or series if the Mets reach the postseason
Rose will be missed after this season, and of course, his known catchphrase:
“PUT IT IN THE BOOKS.”
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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