![\"Howie](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DSC_4749-e1773938974187.jpg\" "\\"Long-time")
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Howie Rose (Photo: Lloyd Mitchell\/AMNY)<\/p>\n
Howie Rose is being fueled for one last go at the microphone by the same two motivators that have nagged at his consciousness for as long as he\u2019s worked with the New York Mets in 1987.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
The 72-year-old New York native \u2014 who grew up a Mets fan entrenched within the upper deck of Shea Stadium and idolized the legendary broadcasting trio of Bob Murphy, Lindsey Nelson, and Ralph Kiner \u2014 wants to call the final out of his boyhood club\u2019s World Series championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cTimes\u2019 getting short for that, at least as far as I\u2019m concerned. Paul [McCartney] and Ringo [Starr] are in their eighties, too,\u201d Rose joked, adding he also wants to meet the two surviving members of his favorite band, The Beatles. \u201cSo I got to hit the gas here, but there\u2019s only so much I could control.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the 2026 season also provides one last opportunity to honor his father, the man who introduced him to baseball but never got to see him reach the immense heights in broadcasting he achieved. Alzheimer\u2019s took him in 1978.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt kills me. I\u2019ve carried around a little chip on my shoulder my entire life,\u201d Rose said. \u201cI\u2019ve always been somewhat bitter about that\u2026 If I had one huge regret\u2026 the bond that you have with your dad when you learn and follow baseball together was so deep with me. For him not to have shared any of it with me is something I\u2019ll never get over. I know he\u2019s proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rose announced his retirement following the 2026 season on Thursday, allowing him to take the victory lap he deserves this summer in what will be his 40th season working with the team.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
He hosted \u201cMets Extra\u201d from 1987 to 1994, then moved to the TV booth. He has been the team\u2019s lead radio voice since 2006.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is extremely humbling because I knew what Lindsey Neson, Bob Murphy, and Ralph Kiner did for me,\u201d Rose said. \u201cThey were in my eyes and ears for seven months every year, so they became very much part of a family of sorts. I looked at them in an avuncular way. So when people tell me that I\u2019ve had that impact on them, as those three did on me, that\u2019s, frankly, the most flattering thing anybody could say to me. That sentiment humbles me the most.\u201d<\/p>\n