NEW YORK, NY — Howie Rose’s radio call of Pete Alonso’s heroic home run in Game 3 of the 2024 National League Wild Card Series, will forever live on in Mets franchise history.
“Pete Alonso with the most memorable home run of his career, pumps his fist as he rounds second. It’s a three-run homer, he’s given the Mets a 3-2 lead.”
Pete Alonso's home run, as called by @Mets radio broadcaster Howie Rose 🐻❄️ pic.twitter.com/6JnB1GW2ma
— MLB (@MLB) October 4, 2024
Alonso’s dramatic three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning in Milwaukee gave the Mets a 3-2 lead in the deciding Game 3, and eventually, a 4-2 win over the Brewers in their Wild Card Series. It turned out to be a big moment also for Mets broadcaster, as well as Cardozo High School and Queens College alum, Rose.
Great moments in sports demand great calls by sportscasters, and Howie came through with aplomb. He was aware Pete Alonso had been struggling throughout the 2024 season, and the conventional wisdom was his pending free agency was causing him to press when was hitting.
Howie Rose and Gary Cohen during a Mets press conference at Citi Field – Image Credit: George Napolitano/Latino Sports
Mets fans were complaining how he never got a clutch hit. Howie factored all that into his call when he excitedly stated, “He did it! He did it!” as soon as the ball, which barely cleared Brewers right-fielder Sam Frelick’s glove, landed in the stands.
On the Mets’ flight to Philadelphia, where they would be taking on the Phillies in the National League Division Series, the Delta Airlines crew replayed his call over the plane’s sound system. The Mets social media department filmed the moment, and it showed Mets players wildly cheering Rose. He was embarrassed by the adulation, but he got out of his seat and shook hands with Mets players who clearly are his fans. It was an immediate classic viral moment for Mets fans.
They played @HowieRose’s call on the plane and it was EPIC! #LGM pic.twitter.com/JBU3udddBl
— x – New York Mets (@Mets) October 4, 2024
I asked him on the field at Citizens Bank Park before the first Mets-Phillies game, if he thought “He did it! He did it!” will become as well-known a call as “Put it in the books!” and “Matteau! Matteau!”
“A lot will depend on what happens from this point. If the Mets were to go on to win the World Series, then yes. I have always believed my call when Stephane Matteau scored the overtime goal against the New Jersey Devils in the deciding Game 7 of that NHL semi-final playoff series would have been forgotten had the Rangers not beaten the Vancouver Canucks to win the 1994 Stanley Cup.”
I don’t think Howie has to worry about his call being an Endy Chavez moment. Chavez made a miraculous catch that helped save the game at the time, but the Mets still lost Game 7 to the Cardinals in 2006. Therefore, he has never been the hero to Mets fans he would have been had they won that game.
The Mets-Phillies series began right after the conclusion of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. I saw Mets center fielder Harrison Bader and Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, and we wished each other “L’shana tova” (Hebrew for “have a good year”). Bader told me he and Phillies catcher, and member of Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Garrett Stubbs also exchanged Rosh Hashanah greetings. “You don’t get to do that often on a baseball field!” Bader quipped.
Mets fans are understandably miffed that SNY is not allowed to carry Mets postseason games. The triumvirate of Flushing native Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling is so good even Yankees fans concede that is one area where the Mets have their team beaten.
Having said that, ESPN’s broadcast team of Jon Sciambi and Doug Glanville were superb during the Mets-Brewers Wild Card Series. Sciambi’s call of Pete Alonso’s home run may not have been as memorable as Howie Rose’s, but he understood how exhilarating the moment was for Mets fans, and how deflating it was for Brewers fans.
In Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series vs. Milwaukee, Pete Alonso became the first player in MLB history to hit a go-ahead HR in the ninth inning or later in a winner take all postseason game with his respective team trailing – Image Credit: MLB
Sciambi grew up on Roosevelt Island, and he is proud to say he lived there before the “F” train stopped there and when the 59th street tram was the only way off the island.
Annual Sports Legends dinner hosted by Buoniconti Fund held in NYC
The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis was founded by the late NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti nearly forty years ago after his son, Marc, was paralyzed playing linebacker for the Citadel in a football game. The organization’s research has helped make many people regain ambulatory function who otherwise would have been confined to wheelchairs for the rest of their lives.
Image Credit: The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis
The Buoniconti Fund held its annual Sports Legends dinner in New York City last week and among the honorees were Roger Clemens and agent Leigh Steinberg, who was the basis for the 1996 Tom Cruise film, “Jerry Maguire.”
I told Clemens his son, Kody, who is an infielder for the Phillies, is a pleasure to speak with. I informed him I watched Kody strike out some hitters when he was asked by his manager, Rob Thomson, to mop up in a blowout game. “Kody struck out Shohei Ohtani in a game. He got Ohtani to sign a baseball for him. We are now in the record books by most strikeouts by a father and son combination. We surpassed the Stottlemyres. It is a mark which will stand forever!” Roger proudly said.
Kody Clemens of the Philadelphia Phillies – Image Credit: Simon Lindenblatt/Latino Sports
I asked Leigh Steinberg if his business has grown larger because college players can now make money with endorsements under what is called “NIL” (Name, Image, Likeness) deals. “It has, but it comes with headaches. Fifteen-year-old kids are getting NIL offers, and they and their parents, are not prepared for what that entails.”
Retired Olympian fencer Monika Aksamit also attended the Buoniconti Fund Sports Legends dinner. Aksamit was thrilled to call the match on NBC where Ozone Park’s Lauren Scruggs won the silver medal in women’s fencing at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Jamaica High School graduate, and 1968 Olympian track and field gold medal winner, Bob Beamon never misses a Buoniconti Fund event. He has always had a passion for music, and these days he is percussionist with a jazz ensemble, the Bone Squad. They have played at Manhattan’s Cutting Room and Connecticut’s Branford Jazz Festival.
Remembering and Paying Tribute to Pete Rose
It is tiresome to wade into the debate about whether the late Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame, but I will always fondly remember him for advice he gave to me. In 1981 Rose was 40 years old and playing for the Phillies with the same energy as he did as a Reds rookie in 1963.
One of the greatest hitters to ever step up to the plate, Pete Rose, passed away at the age of 83 – Image Credit: AP
I asked him how he kept his youthful enthusiasm for his work and what advice he had for those of us in less glamorous professions. He asked me what I did, and I told him I was an accountant for the public accounting firm Price Waterhouse. “Do you like it?” he asked. “Not with the same joy you have for your work!” I retorted. “You will feel like you are 75 when you are 25 if you don’t like what you do,” he advised. He was right, and I left my job before the end of that year.
Patrick Ewing back at MSG with the Knicks
The Knicks made a smart move in hiring one of the best players in franchise history, Patrick Ewing to serve as a goodwill ambassador for the team.
McDonald’s set to debut the Chicken Big Mac
McDonald’s is debuting the Chicken Big Mac this week with tempura-battered chicken patties replacing the familiar beef patties. Poultry is better for cardiac health than beef, but I wish they would have used grilled chicken patties instead of frying them.
October is a Month for Big Events in the NY Area
New York Comic Con is now equal in prestige with its San Diego cousin when it comes to bringing pop culture figures and collectibles under one roof. It runs from Thursday, October 17 to Sunday, October 20.
Image Credit: NYCC (New York Comic Con)
The New York City Wine and Food Festival will be running those four days as well as food purveyors will be allowing patrons to sample their wares. This year, all the events will take place in Brooklyn. While I admire the NYCWFF promoters for being willing to leave Manhattan, I hope they consider holding events in Queens, “the World’s Borough for cuisine,” next year.
The following weekend, the Exxxotica Expo (yes, the three Xs are deliberate), will take place at the New Jersey Exposition in Edison, NJ. You can think of Exxxotica as the Comic Com of the erotic arts. Stormy Daniels, Jenna Jameson, and Buyside’s legendary bad boy, Ron Jeremy, have appeared in the past to sign autographs and pose for photos. There is live entertainment, and it is no more risqué than what you see in many Las Vegas casino late night shows. Scantily clad men and women perform intricate choreography, and frankly, some daring gymnastics.
You can read more of Lloyd Carroll’s columns posted weekly on The Queens Chronicle.
