Howie Rose, the longtime radio voice of the Mets, will retire at the end of this season, he and the team announced Thursday.
Rose, 72, has carved out a decorated broadcasting career across New York sports, calling games for the Mets, Rangers, and Islanders.
His radio call of Stéphane Matteau’s goal in Game 7 of the 1994 conference finals that sent the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Finals stands as one of the most memorable moments in sports broadcasting history, with Rose famously repeating, “Matteau! Matteau! Matteau!”
The veteran broadcaster will call 84 regular-season games this year, down from 101 in 2024. He is scheduled to broadcast all 81 home games at Citi Field and three Subway Series matchups at Yankee Stadium in September but will skip all other road trips.
Rose plans to call every Mets postseason game, home and away, should the team reach the playoffs.
Rose revealed in February 2023 that he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer two years earlier. He has continued broadcasting since his diagnosis but has gradually reduced his workload, calling 125 games in 2023 and missing parts of the 2021 season when he stepped away for cancer-related surgery.
“I evaluate my decision to continue working each offseason after the final game,” Rose told Newsday, citing factors such as his health, preparation demands, and time away from his wife.
Rose began with the Mets organization in 1987 on the team’s pre- and postgame shows before joining the radio booth in 2004, spending more than three decades calling Mets games. He was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2023.
Keith Raad will join Rose in the booth for the fourth consecutive season, while Pat McCarthy will fill in when Rose is off. Rose has expressed pride in mentoring younger broadcasters who have shared the booth in recent seasons.
Rose will retire among the all-time greats in Mets broadcasting history, including Bob Murphy, Lindsey Nelson, Ralph Kiner, Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling.