Longtime New York Mets radio play-by-play voice Howie Rose has become synonymous over the years amongst New York sports fans. And on Monday, he received one of many honors coming to him in celebration of 50 years of broadcasting throughout his illustrious career in media.
Rose appeared on MLB Network’s High Heat with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo to discuss his journey in sports media, saying that the process has been “humbling but very rewarding” for him.
“Sports Phone kind of started it,” said Rose referring to the New York City-based telephone dial-in service where he got his on-air start in 1975. “That would be the first regular job. I did a few other things that year in broadcasting. I don’t think I could have envisioned almost 50 years later being in this position. It’s humbling, a little daunting when you think about the number of years that have passed. But it’s very rewarding too.”
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While Sports Phone was largely his first big job in sports media, he referred to joining WFAN in 1987 when the station went all-sports as his first big break as the station’s original prime-time radio host, a role he served in until 1995.
“One thing led to another and then in 1987, I went back to WHN knowingly full well they were likely going to convert to an all-sports format. Which made them the first (station) in the country to do it. So I guess the long-winded answer Chris is that WFAN was really the first big break because it enabled me to do a bunch of different things. Central of course was not only Mets Extra but an all-sports talk show.”
Rose then served in both radio and television play-by-play roles for the New York Mets starting in 1995 to go along with a similar role for the New York Ranger games he started in 1985. And as they say, the rest is history, as Rose has remained one of the more iconic voices in all of New York sports since then.
In celebration of his 50 years in sports media, Rose was honored by WFAN on Monday on the Evan & Tiki Show from 5 pm to 6 pm. He also hosted on his own on WFAN programming from 6:30 pm to 8 pm.
In addition to this, Rose is set to be honored ahead of the Mets Subway Series matchup against the New York Yankees on Tuesday.