Howie Rose won’t be hitting the road this season unless the Mets make the playoffs.
The longtime radio voice of the Mets will call 84 games this season, he told Newsday — all 81 home games and the three-game series against the Yankees in The Bronx.
The 72-year-old, who worked 100 games in 2025, would call every playoff game, though, should the Mets qualify. Beyond that, nothing is guaranteed.
“I’m going to work this whole season,” Rose told the paper. “And whether or not I work next season is not a matter of whimsy or anything like that. I’ll know. When I decide to say it — and it could be at any time — it could be in a couple of years. Who knows?”
Rose, who previously was the Mets’ TV play-by-player, has been part of their radio booth since 2004. He currently calls games with Keith Raad, while pre-and-postgame host Patrick McCarthy fills in when needed.
Rose’s schedule had been reduced in recent years in part due to bladder cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2021. His bladder and prostate were removed and a “neobladder” was created from the intestines.
Calling games is still enjoyable for Rose, but everything that goes into it before and after has become a “grind.”
“If you could parachute me into the booth at 7 o’clock every night and parachute me back home when the game is over without dealing with traffic and preparation and everything else, then I’d go on indefinitely,” Rose told Newsday. “But there’s a lot of factors as you get older — your health, certainly the greatest of it. The other things that, I suppose, contribute to an ultimate decision is do I want to continue leaving my wife home at night all the time? Do I want to continue working at night? Do I want to continue finding the energy to prep properly for a game? Those are the things I evaluate.”
Rose will be on the call Saturday for the Mets’ spring opener against the Marlins in Port St. Lucie.
