Howie Rose was born in 1954, eight years before the Mets debuted in 1962. In Bayside, Queens, he learned every nugget and fact about the team, affectionately known as the lovable losers, that would finally make good in 1969 with their “miracle” championship season when Rose was 15.

This rich connection — combined with his distinctive New York delivery — made him a perfect combination for the team’s broadcast booth. He sounded like the 7 train, the subway line that links the city to old Shea Stadium and now Citi Field.

On Thursday, at 72, after three decades in the booth, he announced his retirement, and you can “Put it in the books!” That has been Rose’s trademark saying on WFAN, the team’s radio flagship, after Mets victories.

It punctuated the wins and might make it seem like Rose was something of a homer, but he wasn’t, not in the negative sense of the word.

Rose’s broadcasts have always featured a few ingredients — accuracy, honesty, humor and integrity. Did the kid from Queens want the Mets to win? Yeah, you could hear that, but if something needed to be called out, he was apt to say it.

Rose broadcast games on TV for the Mets during his career. He did hockey on radio and TV too. New York Rangers and Islanders fans know him well. He was the TV voice of the Islanders for more than two decades before stopping his hectic MLB-NHL schedule in 2016. His hockey career will be most remembered, though, on the radio with the Rangers.

His 1994 Game 7 Conference Final descriptor of “Matteau! Matteau! Matteau!” when the New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils on a Stéphane Matteau goal to go to the Stanley Cup Finals is an all-time classic. The Rangers went on to win their first Cup in 54 years.

While his career included TV work, calling hockey games and time as a talk-show host on WFAN back in the day, memories of his voice on the radio are what will endure for generations of Mets fans.

While the world has changed with Spotify and streaming, there is something special about having a baseball game on the radio in the background in the summer. In the car, at the beach or at a barbecue, the familiar sound is a great companion.

The ability to weave stories around the play-by-play of the game is an art. It’s not easy to do really well.

Rose never needed to look up anything on Google or try too hard to find the right words. His brain is like an encyclopedia of Mets knowledge.

Then his voice would cut through with the right inflection, letting you know that a ball was driven deep to right, and your ears would perk up a little. While as professional as they come, he sounded like the guy next to you in the upper deck.

Being a Mets fan is an experience. They have some of the greatest moments, like 1969 and 1986, but there is always a late-season collapse or some unfathomable controversy around the corner. Rose would acknowledge it all without demeaning the fans who cared as much as he did.

Through it all, a team’s broadcasters — especially the legendary ones — can start to feel like family. For the Mets, those relationships date back to the beginning, with Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner. Today, on TV, it is Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling.

Starting in 1987, Rose has been a big part of the soundtrack. When Rose revealed a few years ago that he had bladder cancer, the outpouring was overwhelming. He is as much a part of the fabric of the franchise as legends like Tom Seaver, Darryl Strawberry or Mike Piazza.

“For me, letting go of the Mets isn’t hard, it’s impossible,” Rose said as part of his retirement video announcement. “One of the biggest reasons for that is the bond that we have created with each other through all these years.”

He said he still expects to be around every once in a while after his final broadcast. He is not scheduled to leave New York this year to call games unless the Mets go to the playoffs. He hopes his career ends there, as the kid from Bayside has not yet called a World Series winner in Flushing.

“That would make this dream complete,” Rose said.