Congrats to (H)owi(E) Karpin: 1,500 Games and Still Scoring Strong

If you’ve ever sat in a press box and wondered who’s brave (or baseball-obsessed enough) to officially decide whether that screamer down the line was a double or a “E5,” allow me to introduce my dear friend, longtime partner-in-pen, and fellow KinersKorner.com staff writer, Howie Karpin. With a name that starts with “H” for hit and ends with “E” for error, he was practically destined to be an official scorer. Tonight, Howie will log his 1,500th Major League game behind the big black binder—a milestone that ranks right up there with 3,000 hits, 300 wins, and remembering where you parked at Citi Field. As the CEO of KinersKorner.com (a title I gave myself because no one stopped me), I’ve had the privilege of co-authoring eight books with Howie, including Down on the Korner: Ralph Kiner and Kiner’s Korner, which helped inspire this very website. We couldn’t let this moment pass without tipping our Mets caps and offering a hearty congratulations to Howie on this remarkable achievement. Beyond the stats and the stories, he’s the kind of baseball lifer who gives the game its soul—and makes sure the box score tells the truth. Well, at least his version of it.

Howie Karpin has spent a lifetime around the game he loves—first as a player, then as a radio guy with a press credential and a dream, and now as one of Major League Baseball’s most respected (and occasionally second-guessed) official scorers. He’s the one in the seat behind home plate, a scorecard in one hand, the MLB rulebook in the other, and about a hundred people—players, managers, broadcasters, and peanut gallery fans alike—ready to question whichever call he just made.

But here’s the thing about Howie: he doesn’t flinch. Whether it's charging an error to Derek Jeter (yes, he did that—and no, Jeter wasn’t thrilled), or standing his ground when Joe Torre lobbied for a reversal after David Ortiz's glove exploded at first base, Howie calls it as he sees it. In fact, when Torre tried to get that error changed, Howie shot back with a reference to The Munsters—because of course he did—and reminded the Yankees skipper that, unless Herman Munster was taking hacks for Boston, the error stood.

That’s vintage Howie: part rulebook, part radio wit, and all baseball heart.

He grew up in the Bronx, a Pelham Parkway kid who played outfield and pitched for Lehman College—where he had “a little ability,” as he modestly puts it (and if you know Howie, you know that means he could actually play). He was even scouted by Herb Stein, the same guy who signed Rod Carew and Frank Viola. But while he may not have made it to the majors in spikes, he found another path to the big leagues—with a pencil.

When legendary scorer Bill Shannon took a chance on him—despite the fact that Howie came from radio, not the ink-stained world of print—he gave him a shot most scorers don’t get. Howie ran with it. That was nearly two decades and 1,500 games ago.

And what a journey it’s been. He scored his first game 26 years ago in September 1998—Yankees vs. Toronto. His first Mets game came in April 2000 against the Dodgers. He was behind the book on the final game at Shea Stadium on September 28, 2008. He scored Tom Glavine’s one-hitter against the Rockies in May of 2004—a game that flirted with perfection deep into the eighth inning. He scored three Mets one-hitters in total, and was on duty for the unassisted triple play that ended a game between the Mets and Phillies in 2009, courtesy of Eric Bruntlett. That was only the second time in the history of baseball that a game ended that way.

He was there for the first World Series games at Citi Field. He was there for Francisco Lindor’s grand slam in last year’s NLDS Game 4. And tonight, he’ll be there once again, calling his 1,500th major league game with the same precision and thick skin he’s brought since day one.

Scoring a game might not be glamorous. You don’t get your face on a baseball card. You don’t get a bubble gum endorsement. What you do get is blamed. A lot. For taking away hits, for ruining ERAs, for costing players contract bonuses. And all that for about enough money to cover a Citi Field hot dog and a beer. But the thrill of being part of a major league game? For Howie, that’s still the dream.

He’s had managers lobby him, players curse at him, broadcasters criticize him (ask Gary Cohen), and fans yell from the stands. He’s had to explain to A-Rod why a dropped popup was his fault, and tell Jeter face-to-face that, sorry Captain, you were the one who knocked the ball loose. He’s also done what few can—maintained objectivity in a world where everyone has a rooting interest and a stat line to protect.

He’s done it all with integrity, a sharp eye, and a deep-rooted love and respect for baseball.

So tonight, as Howie Karpin sits down to score his 1,500th Major League game, we at KinersKorner.com—the site he’s helped build as one of our staff writers, and which he helped inspire through our book Down on the Korner—just want to say one thing: Congratulations, Howie. You’ve earned every inning, every scoring decision, every piece of heat that came with it.

And remember, your name still starts with an H (for hit) and ends in E (for error). You never really had a choice.