As Howie Rose's call for Pete Alonso's season-saving home run began to play over the public address system on the New York Mets' joyful charter flight from Milwaukee, the veteran broadcaster briefly put his hands to his ears.

From his seat on a plane full of Mets players and staff, Rose, 70, was embarrassed. No broadcaster, he later said, wants to be there when people listen to his words. It's strange. Uncomfortable. That's true, no matter how good the call was, and Rose's call was epic.

“I wanted to crawl under the seat while the thing was playing,” Rose said.

They played @HowieRoses call on the plane and it was EPIC! #LGM pic.twitter.com/JBU3udddBl

— x – New York Mets (@Mets) October 4, 2024

Instead, Rose stood up. Because if Rose had continued to cover his ears with his hands, he might have been able to suppress his words. But he had no chance against the thunderous ovation from the players in the back of the plane. They hooted and hollered, clapped loudly for Rose and gave him a standing ovation.

“I wanted to acknowledge it,” Rose said. “I really wanted to give Pete a hug because I’ve known him since he was a child.”

After Rose stood up from his seat and looked toward the back of the plane, he saluted the players. He pointed in Alonso's direction. Then Rose did something he had never done before. He strolled to the back rows where the players live.

On a baseball team's plane, the players and traveling party (which includes radio and television broadcasters) are generally cordial, but there is an inherent understanding of space. As Rose put it, the parts of the plane might as well be different zip codes. Not late on Thursday evening.

“Under normal circumstances, something like this would never happen,” said Steve Gelbs, SNY’s Mets field reporter. “But in this case it would actually have been strange if it hadn’t happened.”

For every row Rose passed, he got a pat on the back or a high five. When he reached Alonso, Rose leaned over to him and said simply, “I'm really happy for you.”

“In one sentence,” Rose said, “I wanted him to know that I was in his corner.”

This is Rose. He doesn't overdo it. He doesn't have to. He understands moments. And he hits them with a tasteful mix of the right words, observations and emotions.

“It was Pete and the team's night, but Howie made it even better,” Gelbs said. “There was so much genuine love and appreciation for Howie’s ability to provide the perfect soundtrack to an absolute moment in the franchise.”

Rose channeled the Mets' Team of Destiny vibes Thursday night and offered a guide to calling a big play.

Rose has everything. And that's saying something. A few days earlier, Rose had captured the aura of Franciso Lindor's home run on another amazing call that helped the Mets clinch a playoff spot. As fans replayed it over and over in awe, Rose was a little annoyed that he didn't mention Michael Harris II climbing the wall. Yes, that's the kind of detail, kind of level that Rose goes for on these calls. He is a perfectionist.

The Alonso call was perhaps perfect. Before the home run, Rose had portrayed the Mets' season as a “fairy tale.” He would remember to use that word again. In the call, he mentioned Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick jumping into the wall. The emotion came through unadulterated. He rightly called it Alonso's most memorable home run. He captured Alonso's emotions as he ran the bases. He passed the score amidst tumult. He acknowledged the rarity of everyone “flowing out” of the Mets’ dugout. He shared the scene at home plate. Then Rose ended the whole thing by saying, “Pete Alonso keeps this fairytale season going with the fairytale momentum of his career – 3-2 New York!”

This is perhaps the most perfect radio call I have ever heard, from the great Howie Rose. pic.twitter.com/AepTdRqm2c

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 4, 2024

Alonso helped send the Mets to the National League Division Series, which begins Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies. The moment was immediately added to the franchise's list of all-time records. Behind so many of them was Rose.

“It’s all about being a reporter,” Rose said. “It is my responsibility to make it concise, accurate and hopefully, at best, reasonably eloquent. And you know, as I listened, I think, as emotional as I was, I checked all the boxes that I wanted to check.”

A predictable understatement, to be sure. Rose crushed it. Within hours, snippets of the call went viral on social media and were shared thousands of times.

More than any other sport, baseball offers team broadcasters the most opportunities to connect with audiences, whether at home, in an office cubicle or in the car.

The connection begins in spring and lasts throughout the summer. Then, in October, that connection is abruptly severed. During the playoffs, national broadcasts replace locally produced broadcasts, and the voices that guide fans through most of the season are silenced. This is the case on television.

But not like that on the radio. That's why Rose, a voice familiar to New Yorkers, sat behind the microphone for one of the most memorable moments in franchise history.

“If it’s done right,” Rose said, “it’s art.”

Before Rose's call was played over the plane's public address system, so many people, including Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza, came up to him not only to congratulate him on the call, but to congratulate each other as well to thank him.

Rose has proven herself as one of the best radio hosts. Since 1995, he has called Mets play-by-play on radio or television. In 2022, Rose began cutting back on his schedule due to health issues. Rose, a New York native who grew up a Mets fan and essentially doubles as a walking encyclopedia of the franchise, considers this year's run special. The Mets are always up to the challenge. Rose always suits them. Fans of the club wouldn't want it any other way.

“They know I’m invested, and that makes us soulmates,” Rose said. “And what's more important is that I think that over time, and I've obviously been doing this for a long time, I've built the kind of trust that allows me to say something, be it crucial Meaning or being opinionated in some way and knowing that the listener understands where I'm coming from. I'm not trying to short sell them or sell them a bill of materials. I just say it like I see it and they trust me. And the added advantage I have is that I'm emotionally invested in this team because I've been a fan of theirs from day one. And many of those fans will say they've been fans since their earliest baseball memories. That's why I like to use the expression “We are kindred spirits.”

(Photo of Pete Alonso after his home run in Game 3: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)