After 50 years in sports media, the voice of the New York Mets, Howie Rose, holds onto a collection of unforgettable moments from his storied career.
One of the most recent came during Game 3 of the Wild Card series against the Milwaukee Brewers just a few months ago.
Appearing on the Awful Announcing Podcast this week, Rose admitted he needs more time to reflect before deciding if it’s one of his all-time favorites. And in his view, “call” might not even be the right word.
Play No. 5 of 2024: Pete Alonso with the most memorable home run of his career!
Pete Alonso’s heroic, go-ahead 3-run HR sends the Mets on to the NLDS! pic.twitter.com/4wfGo3qDgz
— MLB (@MLB) December 13, 2024
“I think I still need a little separation in terms of months or even years from it to put it in a better perspective because it wasn’t just that one call and, and it’s not so much the call as it is the moment,” Rose said. “You know, a lot of us in this business can work our entire careers and never have moments like the Mets presented us with during the postseason.”
Mind you, this was just 72 hours after another hold-your-breath homer from Alonso’s teammate Francisco Lindor, who helped the Mets clinch a playoff spot after a thrilling Game 161 win over the Atlanta Braves.
“People were saying biggest home run in Mets history,” Rose said. “And then three days later or four days later, Pete hits that home run, which I mean, they were dead in the water for the first eight innings… There wasn’t much reason to believe. ”
With free agency looming over Mets fans fondly refer to as the ‘Polar Bear,’ there was another layer to his at-bat that added even more weight to the moment.
“And what I liked about the call wasn’t only the act of describing the ball, hitting the bat and going over the fence – and everything else,” Rose added. “But we were able to present that at-bat and frame around the significance potentially of what it represented because it may well have been his last at-bat as a Met. I remember saying, ‘He could make it his most memorable,’ and wouldn’t you know it, he does just that.”
When Rose listened to the call again, he thought he had never talked so much, even though it was on the radio.
“It was a unique moment because of the significance and the players come pouring out the dugout,” he says. “We’d never seen that. So, I’m comfortable with it. But what I wasn’t comfortable with was when we got on the plane to go to Philadelphia after the game… and somebody in the Mets’ front office decided that they wanted to play the call of the home run over the PA on the airplane.”
And that was a moment that broadcasters don’t get, Rose said.
The Mets shared a video from their plane ride back to New York that paid tribute to Rose’s call of Alonso’s moment. The flight played the audio of the call with the entire team plane, giving Rose a deserved round of applause. Rose then got up to go to the back of the plane to share a celebratory moment with the man who hit it – Pete Alonso.
They played @HowieRose’s call on the plane and it was EPIC! #LGM pic.twitter.com/JBU3udddBl
— New York Mets (@Mets) October 4, 2024
But that wasn’t exactly a moment of comfort for New York’s esteemed radio voice.
“We know our place on the charters… We don’t go back and forth,” Rose said. “But that was the moment, as I said, I think I still need a little separation from to really absorb the significance because I could see it when somebody replays that clip to me, or think about it. Although I still get goosebumps, I think there’ll be even bigger goosebumps when we’re a few years out, and I’m retired, and I think back and go, ‘Wow, that happened.'”
With Alonso reportedly expected to sign elsewhere after six years with the Mets, that home run may stand as one of his most unforgettable moments in New York.
Listen to the full episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast featuring Howie Rose beginning Friday, Jan. 17. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. For more content, subscribe to AA’s YouTube page.