Legendary New York Mets announcer Howie Rose is scheduled to work his last MLB game as the team's radio play-by-play voice when the Mets host the Philadelphia Phillies on Sept. 20. 

Rose, 72, previously suggested earlier this summer that he wasn't having any second thoughts about retiring after the Mets wrap up what almost certainly will be a lost season for the franchise. As Anthony Rieber of Newsday shared over the weekend, Rose will continue his role as master of ceremonies for special team-related events beyond the ongoing campaign. Rose also recently teased that he could still call the occasional game for the Mets.

Howie Rose willing to "pop into the booth" if the Mets need him

"It’s a people business, and I’m going to miss the people most," Rose explained. "But thankfully, they’ve been nice enough to agree to dust me off a few times a year to MC the various ceremonies that might take place on the field, and maybe pop into the booth if the kids need a break from time to time. I’m not saying I’ll never do another game after Sept. 20th, but as a full-time thing, that’ll be it." 

Rose began hosting pregame and postgame shows for Mets radio broadcasts in 1987, the year after the club won what remains its last World Series title. Since 1996, he has called Mets games for either television or radio. However, he reduced his schedule this season to working the Mets' 81 home games plus three contests at the New York Yankees from Sept. 11-13. 

Why Howie Rose isn't changing his mind about retirement

Some have wondered if Rose could change his mind about retiring after a Mets team that was supposed to contend for at least a playoff spot plummeted to the basement of the division standings and ended Sunday with a record of 56-69. Rose seems serious about only calling the random game for the Mets if he finds his way into a broadcasting booth at some point down the road. 

"Here’s the reason why," he said. "Because I feel as though I could probably go on another two, three, four years doing it at approximately the same level, whatever that is. But I have to confess that the motivation is not what it was. I don’t like just doing half the games. I don’t believe in that. I loved, as hard as it was, being around the team every day on the road as well as at home. I think you shortchange the job a little bit if you parachute in and out, and that’s what I feel like I’ve been doing. I just know that if they could plop me down in the booth at 7 o’clock, and as soon as 10 comes around, get me down to Florida in two hours and bring me back the next day at 7 o’clock, maybe. But it’s all the other stuff." 

Following the SNY postgame show related to the Mets' home game versus the San Diego Padres on Tuesday, the official television home of the Mets will premiere a new 60-minute documentary entitled "Howie Rose: Put It In The Books." That program will serve as something of a farewell for Mets fans who have associated Rose's voice with ballgames for decades.