As Howie Rose’s call of Pete Alonso’s season-saving home run began playing over the public address system on the New York Mets’ joyous charter flight out of Milwaukee, the veteran broadcaster briefly cupped his hands to his ears.

From his seat on a plane full of Mets players and staffers, Rose, 70, was embarrassed. No broadcaster, he’d later say, wants to be present as people listen to their words. It’s weird. Uncomfortable. That’s true no matter how good the call was, and Rose’s call was epic.

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

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

Instead, Rose got up. You see, had Rose continued to cover his ears with his hands, he may have succeeded in blocking out his words. But he had no chance against the accompanying raucous ovation from the players in the back of the plane. They hooted and hollered, clapped so loudly for Rose and gave him a standing ovation.

“I wanted to acknowledge it,” Rose said. “I really wanted to embrace Pete because he’s a guy I’ve known since he came up.”

After Rose stood 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 wandered to the back rows, where the players reside.

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

“Under normal circumstances, it would never ever, ever happen,” SNY’s Mets field reporter Steve Gelbs said. “But in this instance, it would’ve actually been weird if it didn’t happen.”

With each row Rose passed, he received a pat on the back or a high five. When he reached Alonso, Rose leaned in and told him, simply, “I’m really, really happy for you.”

“With one sentence,” Rose said, “I wanted him to know that I’m in his corner.”

That’s Rose. He doesn’t overdo it. He doesn’t have to. He understands moments. And he nails them with a tasteful blend of the right words, observations and emotions.

“It was Pete’s and the team’s night, but Howie enhanced it,” Gelbs said. “There was so much genuine love and appreciation for Howie’s ability to provide the perfect soundtrack to an all-time moment for the franchise.”

With the Mets oozing Team of Destiny vibes, Rose delivered Thursday night, presenting a how-to in the art of calling a big play.

Rose got it all. And that’s saying something. A few days earlier, on another astounding call, Rose captured the aura of Franciso Lindor’s home run that helped the Mets clinch a playoff spot. As fans replayed it over and over in awe, Rose was somewhat irked he neglected to mention Michael Harris II climbing the wall. Yes, that’s the kind of detail, kind of level Rose strides for when making these calls. He’s a perfectionist.

The Alonso call may have been perfect. Before the home run, Rose had introduced the idea of the Mets’ season as a “fairy tale.” He’d remember to use that word again. On the call, he mentioned Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick jumping at the wall. The emotion came out raw. He accurately called it Alonso’s most memorable home run. He captured Alonso’s emotion running the bases. He relayed the score within the pandemonium. He acknowledged the rarity of everyone “pouring out” of the Mets’ dugout. He shared the scene at home plate. Then Rose capped it off, saying, “Pete Alonso keeps this fairy-tale season going with the fairy-tale swing of his career — 3-2 New York!”

This might be the most perfect radio call I’ve ever heard, via 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 starts against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. The moment instantly joined the list of all-timers for the franchise. Behind so many of them has been Rose.

“It’s very much a case of being a reporter,” Rose said. “I’m charged with the responsibility of doing it succinctly, accurately, and hopefully, in the best-case scenario, somewhat eloquently. And you know, when I listened back, I think as emotional as I was, I think I checked all the boxes I wanted to check.”

A predictable understatement, to be sure. Rose crushed it. Within hours, clips of the call had ricocheted throughout social media, racking up thousands of shares.

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

The connection starts in the spring and lasts through the entire summer. Then, come October, that link is abruptly severed. For the playoffs, national broadcasts displace the ones produced locally, and the voices that guide fans through most of the season go silent. That’s the case on television.

But not so on the radio. This is why Rose, a familiar voice to New Yorkers, was behind the mic for one of the most memorable moments in franchise history.

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

Before Rose’s call replayed over the plane’s public address system, so many people, including Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza, approached him, not just to congratulate him on the call, but to thank him as well.

Rose has endured as one of radio’s most polished practitioners. He has called Mets play-by-play on radio or television since 1995. In 2022, Rose began to cut back his schedule, following health issues. Rose, a native New Yorker who grew up a Mets fan and basically doubles as a walking encyclopedia of the franchise, views this year’s run as special. The Mets keep rising to the occasion. Rose keeps matching them. Fans of the club would have it no other way.

“They know that I’m invested, and that makes us kindred spirits,” Rose said. “And what’s more important than that, though, is that I think, over time, and, obviously I’ve been doing this for a long time, I’ve built the kind of trust that enables me to say something, whether it’s critical or opinionated in any way, and know that the listener understands where I’m coming from. I’m not trying to short-sell them or sell them a bill of goods. I’m just saying it as I see it, and they trust me. And the added advantage I have is that I’m emotionally invested in this team because I was a fan of theirs from day one. And a lot of those fans will say they’ve been fans since their earliest baseball memories. So again, I like to use the phrase we are kindred spirits.”

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

The Washington Huskies got their revenge.

Nearly nine months after losing the national championship to Michigan, the boys in purple got a 27-17 win over the Wolverines on Saturday.

The two teams are now Big Ten rivals, thus the rare national championship rematch.

Washington jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but the Wolverines scored 17 unanswered points to eventually take a three-point lead midway through the third quarter.

The Huskies tied it with a field goal early in the fourth, and after forcing a punt, they were in business. But, Will Rogers threw an interception, throwing away all the momentum they had.

Michigan did the same, though, losing a fumble at their own 32, and Washington would not let the opportunity go to waste. Jonah Coleman would run three times for 32 yards, finding the end zone to give the Huskies a 24-17 lead with 6:22 to go.

Will Rogers #7 and offensive lineman D’Angalo Titialii #75 of the Washington Huskies celebrate after a touchdown during the first quarter of the game against the Michigan Wolverines at Husky Stadium on October 05, 2024 in Seattle, Washington.  (Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

LEE CORSO, 89, ABSENT FROM LATEST EDITION OF ESPN’S ‘COLLEGE GAMEDAY’ AFTER FEELING ‘UNDER THE WEATHER’

Michigan converted on a 4th and inches, but the next pass was intercepted on their own side of the field. Washington then knocked down a 32-yard field goal with less than 70 seconds to play, going up two possessions and effectively ending the ballgame.

Both squads look much different from their national championship game, as Michael Penix, Rome Odunze, J.J. McCarthy were eighth, ninth, and 10th in the NFL Draft, respectively. Even Michigan’s Blake Corum and Roman Wilson, as well as Washington’s Ja’Lynn Polk, went to the league. Both teams also have new head coaches leading their programs now.

Will Rogers completed 21 of his 32 passes for Washington, throwing for 271 yards and two touchdowns. Denzel Boston and Giles Jackson were on the receiving end of those scores, combining for nine receptions for 158 yards.

Washington Huskies quarterback Will Rogers (7) celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass against the Michigan Wolverines during the second quarter at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium.  (Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images)

It’s Michigan’s second loss of the season (4-2), and their first in conference, in what was their first time on the road in the 2024 campaign. Washington, meanwhile, improved to the same record.

The Huskies will head to Iowa next week, while Michigan has a bye until going to Illinois on Oct. 19.

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It wasn’t the most stunning October moment delivered by a gimpy Dodgers player in Chavez Ravine. That honor will always go to Kirk Gibson, who hobbled around the bases on two bum knees after his walk-off home run off Oakland Athletic closer Dennis Eckersley landed in the right-field pavilion in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.

But it was up there.

After leading off the third inning of Saturday night’s National League Division Series-opening 7-5 victory over the the San Diego Padres with a single, Freddie Freeman — playing on a right ankle that was so severely sprained doctors told him “this is a four-to six-week [injured list] stint” — took off for second base.

And he stole it, sending a jolt of energy and an extra dose of determination through a Dodgers dugout that had begun to find its footing after erasing a 3-0 first-inning deficit on Shohei Ohtani’s score-tying three-run home run in the second inning.

“We had a saying in 2020 when we won [the World Series], guys were going around saying, ‘Hey, I’m prepared to die out there today,’ ” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. “Obviously, it’s metaphorical, but that’s kind of the mentality we’re taking again this year, like nothing should hold us back out there, and Freddie proved that tonight.

“He gets the hits, makes the plays, steals a bag, and it sends a message to our dugout that hey, it doesn’t matter what your name is, who you are, you better be willing to do whatever it takes to win this game. … It’s hard to put into words exactly what that meant to see Freddie doing that. It’s just really cool. It almost gives you chills.”

Freeman’s stolen base put him on second with no outs, and though he didn’t score in the inning, it gave the team hope that its 35-year-old first baseman and No. 3 hitter would be a factor in this series despite his injury, which he sustained trying to avoid a tag while running out a grounder in the Sept. 26 division-clinching win over San Diego.

Freeman lined a 109-mph single to right field in his first at-bat in the first inning. After his third-inning single to right, he grounded into a fielder’s choice during a three-run fourth inning, grounded out to first in the sixth and struck out in the eighth.

“When you see a guy like Freddie going through what he’s going through and making himself available to play, that speaks a lot,” said shortstop Miguel Rojas, who is playing with a left-adductor strain. “It pushed me to forget about everything that is going on with me, because I’m not even close to what he’s going through.

“Nobody in this clubhouse is 100%. We all understand that. But the fire and the fight from this team is unbelievable.”

When Rojas saw Freeman limping around the clubhouse early Saturday afternoon, he thought there was “no chance” Freeman would play.

“I thought he had like a 5% chance with how he looked when he got here,” Rojas said. “I don’t think anybody expected him to play. It was borderline a miracle.”

Freeman went through a workout on Friday but woke up so sore on Saturday that he told his 8-year-old son, Charlie, “I don’t know if Daddy is going to be able to play today.” Freeman arrived at Dodger Stadium at 10:45 a.m. and received several hours of treatment that reduced the swelling in his ankle.

Freeman went through his normal pregame workout on the field, and after hitting off a high-velocity pitching machine in the batting cage about 2½ hours before first pitch, he told manager Dave Roberts he felt good enough to play. That decision looked pretty good after Freeman’s sharp single in the first inning.

In the Dodgers’ 7-5 win in the opening game of the National League Division Series, Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run home run to tie the game. And six scoreless innings from the Dodgers’ bullpen kept the lead from changing.

“That really helped with the feeling-out process,” Freeman said. “I felt good after my first at bat, so I knew I could do it.”

But good enough to steal a base? That seemed unfathomable to players and coaches in both dugouts, to Padres pitcher Dylan Cease and to just about everyone in a sellout crowd of 53,028.

“I think the stolen base was just pure luck,” Freeman said. “I leaned into Clayton [McCullough, first-base coach], and said, ‘What is [Cease’s time to the plate]? They know I have a sprained ankle, and I figured they didn’t think I was gonna steal. He said, ‘1.65 seconds.’ I said, ‘Can I go?’ And he goes, ‘Can you run?’ And I just took off.

“You know, 90 feet means a lot in this game, especially in the postseason. I know I took a big risk with how I’m feeling, but the opportunity presented itself, and I had to go for it. If I can’t play the game the right way, I shouldn’t be out there. So I was feeling good enough, adrenaline took over. But the adrenaline’s worn off now. I’m tired.”

What did Roberts think when he saw Freeman take off for second?

“I was holding my breath,” he said. “And that crash landing, I wanted to make sure he was able to get up. Freddie, as a competitor, felt there was a chance to get into scoring position with nobody out. It’s a calculated play. I guess he was playing possum with everybody. But it’s just a heady play and a gutsy play. … He just willed himself into the lineup. He was certainly medicated.”

In addition to physical therapy sessions and extensive pregame treatments, pain-killers will be part of Freeman’s daily regimen for the rest of the postseason.

“Everything is doctor prescribed, whatever the doctors allow me to have, but yeah, there’s some help,” Freeman said. “Unfortunately, this probably might be how it is every day, but I think we have a good plan and approach.”