'Kidcaster' winner Danny Shea Burke, 9, of West Sayville does play-by-play in SNY broadcast booth

Danny Shea Burke has watched plenty of Mets games at Citi Field.

But this time, the 9-year-old from West Sayville traded in the jersey and hat for a collared polo shirt. He had some important people to meet.

Along with parents Pete and Linda, and little sister Willa, Burke was escorted to the SNY broadcast booth before the Mets’ tilt with the Cubs Tuesday night and spent about 10 minutes chatting with Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling. The nature of the conversation was down-to-earth, but that wasn’t Burke’s main takeaway from the meeting.

“I wasn’t surprised by that,” Burke said. “I was surprised that Ron Darling is so tall.

“They’re the best announcers in the game. They have loud voices. Gary makes the best calls. They’re all just so good.”

A few hours later, Burke stepped back in the booth to go to work with his idols.

Burke was selected as the winner of SNY’s 15th “Kidcaster” contest presented by HSS. The “Kidcaster” program invites one fan aged 9-12 each year to call an inning of a Mets game alongside SNY’s announcers.

As he exited his pregame meeting with the trio affectionately known as GKR, Burke bumped into Mets radio broadcaster Howie Rose. Burke said that he typically falls asleep either listening to Mets games on the radio or to the Rico Brogna podcast, hosted by WFAN’s Evan Roberts.

Burke was excited, but not nervous about getting to join the broadcast, including taking over play-by-play in the bottom of the fourth.

“It’s just talking baseball,” Burke said. “I get to do what I usually do and talk baseball.”

SNY field reporter Steve Gelbs revealed to Burke that he won the contest during the Mets’ game against the Cardinals on June 12.

Tuesday afternoon, SNY’s Instagram account posted Burke’s audition tape, in which Burke deemed himself, “The biggest Mets fan you will ever meet,” and delivered play-by-play for Luis Robert Jr.’s walk-off homer in the 11th inning of the Mets’ 4-2 win March 28 over the Pirates.

“Walk it off LuBob,” Burke exclaimed in the video. “Welcome to Queens, Luis! Welcome to Queens. Ya gotta believe! Ya gotta believe!”

Burke’s middle name, which was suggested by his mother, is a nod to Shea Stadium. “I have a lot of great memories growing up at Shea Stadium,” Pete Burke said. “Linda loved the name, but I never thought she would suggest that.”

“Everyone calls him Danny Shea, it just rolls off the tongue,” Linda Burke added.

Burke’s favorite player is Francisco Lindor, but the speedy centerfielder sees himself in rookie A.J. Ewing.

“You even look like A.J. Ewing,” Cohen said on the broadcast.

Hernandez asked Burke if he would rather become a baseball player or a broadcaster when he grows up.

“Definitely a player, but broadcaster is next on the list,” Burke said.

“That’s a good fallback plan,” Hernandez replied.

The Mets went down in order in the bottom of the fourth, leaving little time for Burke to deliver play-by-play.

But as Cohen put it, “Danny, that was great work.”

With Burke’s personality, broadcasting could be more than just a fallback plan.

“When we go for drives, he’ll watch the games on his phone and we’ll just listen to his play-by-play,” Linda Burke said. “It’s like innate, second nature to him.”

“You hope that your child is going to have a shared interest with you,” Pete Burke said. “Did I ever think that his interest and knowledge would get to this level? No. If I was only able to watch a game with him a couple times a month, have a catch and watch him play Little League, that would’ve been more than enough for me. The rest is gravy.”

By Matt Lindsay

matt.lindsay@newsday.com@mattlinds19

Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.