Fellow broadcasters weigh in on what makes Howie Rose and Gary Cohen great

Before Kevin Burkhardt was calling Super Bowls, before he was manning the Citi Field sidelines for SNY, and even before selling used cars in New Jersey, he was doing what so many others did every summer: Listening to baseball games on the radio.

The players on the team came and went. Games were won and hopes were dashed. Throughout franchise history, almost nothing has remained constant, except for the broadcasters.

“To me, Gary and Howie are the Mets,” the FOX Sports broadcaster told the Daily News.

Gary Cohen and Howie Rose have mastered the art of baseball storytelling like few others. They’ve become as integral to the fabric of the organization and the fan experience as the Home Run Apple. The Mets will cement the legacy of their beloved broadcaster this weekend by inducting the two into the team Hall of Fame.

But their legacy extends far beyond Citi Field. Rose and Cohen have become legends in their industry for how they do their work and how they treat people.

The News talked to five broadcasters about the legacies of Rose and Cohen: Burkhardt, Vegas Golden Knights play-by-play broadcaster Dan D’Uva, Houston Astros play-by-play broadcaster Robert Ford, New Jersey Devils play-by-play broadcaster Matt Loughlin and Cohen’s longtime partner on Seton Hall basketball broadcasts, Dave Popkin.

From their early roots at Shea Stadium to becoming nationally known, this is how their peers view the two Hall of Fame broadcasters.

KIDS IN THE UPPDER DECK

Cohen began calling Mets games on the radio in 1989 with Bob Murphy. Rose was the voice of the Rangers before he started calling games for the Mets on TV in 1995. But the two Queens natives had grown up going to Shea Stadium. They saw a lot of good, a lot of bad and a whole lot of ridiculous baseball as longtime fans of the Amazins’.

It’s a commonality that fans identify with.

Ford, a Bronx native and former Mets minor league broadcaster: “It’s rare that you get to call the games for the team that you grew up following. I mean, most of us in this business don’t get that opportunity. You have two guys who are living that and have been living that for a long time… And so I think that helps them connect with the fans also.”

D’Uva, a Ridgewood, N.J. native and lifelong Mets fan: “They are so good with their words, but they have been fans since they were six years old… They’ve been preparing for every broadcast since they were six years old. You can’t possibly prepare any better than the way that those two have growing up as fans, and then living for decades as the voices of Mets.”

Loughlin, former Mets host: “I think Howie still views himself as the guy who was with his teenage friends making their way on cheap tickets to the upper deck. And he probably pinches themselves in some ways every day saying, ‘I can’t believe this is happening to me.’ That’s just him.”

‘PERFECT STORM’ AND THE ‘EVERYMAN’

There was a period of time when Cohen and Rose called games together. This was before the Mets launched SNY and Rose went back to radio. It was, as D’Uva says, “extraordinary.” But the two have their own separate, yet identifiable styles.

Cohen deftly manages the personalities of Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling in the SNY booth. His knowledge of the game and ability to guide the broadcast, plus the comedy and analysis from all three, have made it one of the most revered booths in baseball.

Popkin: “He’s the perfect storm. He’s erudite and Ivy League-educated. He is knowledgeable in the particular sport and the rules and the history of that sport. And then he has enough interests outside of sports and knowledge that brings a richness to the broadcast. It’s something that John Miller has, it’s something that Vin Scully had, it’s something that Ian Eagle has. It’s a well-roundedness married with a great voice that is hard to top.”

Burkhardt: “I love Gary and I just love the style and the way he called the game. He was truly one of my favorites. There are so many things about his style that are smart and incredible. He’s engaging, he’s incredibly brilliant, and he is electric in his calls. He’s exciting.”

Ford: “Gary always stood out to me, even as a kid even before I ever knew that I wanted to broadcast. I loved how descriptive he was. He was a really good storyteller and knew a lot about the Mets and also knew a lot about all the other teams. And honestly, he is the person who’s the most responsible for the way that I call baseball now.

“Rose is more of an ‘everyman.’ He’s the buddy you call on for trivia answers.”

Loughlin: “When you tune into a game, you can tell by both of their voices if it’s a good one or a bad one. If Gary is pulling out cards to talk about player stats from whatever year, the Mets are down by like 20. But for Howie, he comes in with having been a Mets fan and having seen everything from ‘69 through the heartaches of the mid-’90s here in the 2000s. He delivers not only the game perfectly well, but what’s going on and descriptions are of positions, the time, weather, buzz in the crowd, a little bit of gossip, a lot of facts.”

Ford: “His knowledge of the Mets is encyclopedic. It seems like he was at like almost every significant moment in Mets history. I remember when Aaron Nola struck out 10 batters in a row against the Mets. I was listening to the broadcast when that happened, and Howie was talking about how he was at Tom Seaver’s game when he did the same thing. Of course he was.”

Rose and Cohen have developed a reputation for being fair. They know how to be engaging, build toward a crescendo and bring the appropriate excitement to the broadcast without being team cheerleaders.

D’Uva: “It’s the roughness of texture that makes us appreciate those great moments when things aren’t going well.”

Popkin: “It’s the Marv Albert School of broadcasting that a lot of the quote-unquote ‘New York play-by-play announcers’ have absorbed over the years. It’s getting excited without being a homer. It’s thorough preparation. It’s not a lot of we and us and our, it’s the Pirates and the Huskies. It’s just trying to be professional and of service to the listener.”

Loughlin: “I want to say this: [Gary] doesn’t suffer fools gladly.”

PAYING IT FORWARD

Burkhardt is one of SNY’s best success stories, and he credits his rise to becoming a lead announcer for NFL on FOX to the support and critique he received from Cohen and Rose. D’Uva sought their advice early in his career when calling Cape Cod League baseball games for free. Now he’s prepping to call his second Stanley Cup Final.

Not all announcers are as gracious with their time or advice, which is what makes their advice so influential to younger broadcasters.

Ford: “One of the hardest things in this business is to get constructive feedback. It is literally the hardest thing, especially when you’re in the minor leagues. To be able to have someone who is where you want to listen to your work and give you constructive feedback, that’s huge. There isn’t anything that can really replace that.”

D’Uva: “Something Gary said to me which always resonated is that baseball games are three hours long, but only eight minutes of action. We might have to adjust those numbers now with the pitch clock, but that’s truly two hours and 52 minutes that are a soliloquy.”

Burkhardt: “That’s what I looked up to when I was younger. He was such a great friend and mentor to me when I was there. I would bounce stuff off them when I would fill in for him. He would give me critiques because I wanted them. He was super helpful and I don’t know that a ton of people in that position who would be helping the younger guy filling in for him. It doesn’t happen all the time.”

Cohen and Rose are friends to all. They’re the friends that fans invite into your living room every night, and they’re the friends that help colleagues hone their craft. It’s a defining aspect of their legacy.

“For as long as I can remember since I was a young pup, Gary and Howie were the Mets,” Burkhardt said. “Gary and Howie are the Mets.”