This week, The Post’s Andrew Marchand caught up with Mets’ Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Murphy. The 77-year-old Murphy has been with the team since its inception in 1962. He is scheduled to call 70-75 games this season.

Q: How did your trademark phrase – “We’ll be back with the happy recap” -originate?

A: I don’t really know. It was so many years ago. As a matter of fact, I thought it was so corny. I said to myself, ‘What are you doing?’ I stopped, because I thought it was bad. Then I got so much mail requesting it I had to put it back in.

Q: That inaugural year, did you think you would broadcast the Mets for this long?

A: Of course not. How could you possibly think that? I was just hoping to get past that first year. When Lindsey Nelson, Ralph Kiner and I came together in the 1962 season, all we wanted to do was stay alive [as a franchise] because the Yankees were terrific competition. We knew that. We knew we had to do as a good a job as we possibly could. We knew we would have a bad ballclub.

As it turned out, the guy who saved everybody’s neck was Casey Stengel. He was so liked, so respected by all the media people, nobody was going to get on the Mets because of Casey.

Q: How much longer do you think you’ll broadcast Met games?

A: I don’t know. It used to be I was going year to year. Now I’m going day to day. One thing I’m getting away from is travel. Even if you are healthy, travel is tough right now because of Sept. 11.

They [the Mets] have been very good to me. The radio station and the ballclub have been as good as they could possibly be. I’m traveling a little, but very little.

Q: What do you think is going to happen with the Mets this year?

A: Right now, I don’t think they are in position to win it. I think the Atlanta Braves are too good. The only chance the Mets have is if Jeromy Burnitz and Mo Vaughn both get their bats really going and pick the offense up a terrific amount. Then the Mets might come from behind and sneak in and win this thing.

Q: Do you miss hosting “Bowling for Dollars?”

A: Not one bit. One of my daughters liked “Bowling for Dollars” because it helped put her in college. She went to Seton Hall, and it helped her pay the bills.