Legendary Mets announcer missed end of Yankees game for bucket list moment

Pockets of New York Mets fans listening to the radio broadcast of Saturday evening's home game versus the New York Yankees were concerned about the fact that beloved radio play-by-play announcer Howie Rose wasn't calling the final innings of the contest. 

It turns out Rose was just fine and was instead fulfilling a longtime dream. 

Where Howie Rose missed part of Saturday's Mets-Yankees game

According to Anthony Rieber of Newsday, Rose revealed during the broadcast of Sunday's Subway Series game that he was given permission by his bosses to attend the season finale of "Saturday Night Live," where he met music legend Sir Paul McCartney. 

"It was for a fleeting maybe 10 seconds," Rose explained. "But maybe the biggest item on the bucket list has been crossed off, getting to meet Sir Paul. It was surreal." 

Rose, 72, confirmed in March that he will retire from calling Mets games following the ongoing season. While Mets manager Carlos Mendoza later promised Rose that "we’re going to win it all this year," the Mets have since endured a rough spring and began Monday with a record of 20-26.

"Here I am speaking for a living for over 50 years, and I must have sounded like the biggest bumbling moron," Rose said about meeting McCartney. "I was trying to say something along the lines of thank you for everything you've meant in my life. Words to that effect might have dribbled out in different order, sounded different than their design. It was nuts." 

Howie Rose turned back into a teenager for a brief period of time

Rose grew up a Mets fan and watched games from the upper deck of Shea Stadium in the 1960s. That same decade, McCartney and The Beatles played multiple concerts at Shea. 

Per Rieber, Rose previously said that meeting McCartney and/or Beatles drummer Ringo Starr were two bucket-list items, as is getting to call the final out of the Mets winning a World Series. It seems as if Rose may not check that final goal off the list, but he nevertheless was all smiles on Sunday. 

"It was a very strange feeling to meet somebody who's been part of your life in a sense for what did I say to him, '62 stinking years,' words to that effect," Rose added. "You just wish that you had a little more time to have a discussion. But that's not the forum, that's not what it was. I was absolutely blessed and thrilled to have that opportunity...I'm sorry if I sound like a little teenager, but [Saturday] night I was one."

There's still time for the Mets to turn things around and save Rose's final season. New York next opens a four-game series at the Washington Nationals (23-24) on Monday evening.