The sound of spring, Bob Murphy’s voice, chirped through the phone line.

The Mets’ Hall-of-Fame play-by-play man’s words could have sounded hokey if they weren’t so genuine.

“You are always hopeful on Opening Day,” said the 78-year-old Murphy, who’s broadcast all 41 of the Mets’ previous openers, and who’ll be behind the mic again when the Mets open their 2003 season on Monday against the Cubs.

“Even if you are coming off a bad spring, you are always hopeful this is going to be the real good year you have been looking for,” Murphy added. “And every now and then, you get it. And it’s fun. Real fun.”

Opening Day, especially a home opener, is like excitedly unwrapping a new present. The Mets have won 26 of 41 openers and 16 of 21 at home.

So what will be inside the wrapping once new Met ace Tom Glavine delivers against the Cubs?

“I’m not sure,” said Murphy, who used to do both TV and radio, but now sticks to radio – and will cut back to 60 games from 69 last year.

“I think the starting lineup is going to do real well. I think guys are going to make big comebacks. I look for Roberto Alomar to come back. I look for Mo Vaughn to come back. I think Jeromy Burnitz will come back.

“The only thing you have to worry about is how good the starting pitching will be. I think if the pitching holds up, they have a good chance to win it. Of course, you could say that about almost any club.”

Glavine and Al Leiter will be asked to dominate from the top of the rotation. After tormenting the Mets for so long with an “A” on his hat, it’s still hard to fathom that Glavine is now a Met.

“That’s strange, no doubt about that,” Murphy said.

Murphy will always be the Met-caster against whom all other Met-casters will be judged. But even after 56 years in a broadcast booth – the Red Sox and Orioles before the Mets – Murphy will start WFAN’s broadcast with a case of nerves.

“You go about three innings before you realize you are just doing a baseball game,” Murphy said. “You get all kinds of goose bumps. You get a little nervous, a little uptight, but then you settle in.”