Mario Impemba (born ) is an American sportscaster, best known as the television play-by-play announcer for the Detroit Tigers from 2002 to 2018. Before working for the Tigers, he announced for the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

on both television and radio and several minor league teams.

Early and personal life

Impemba is a native of Sterling Heights, Michigan and a graduate of Stevenson High School and Michigan State University. He and his wife Cathy are parents of two sons, Brett and Daniel. Brett was drafted in the 49th round of the

2011 Major League Baseball Draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the firs ...

by the Detroit Tigers. The Impembas live in

Macomb County, Michigan Macomb County ( ) is a county located in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of Michigan, bordering Lake St. Clair, and is part of northern Metro Detroit. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 881,217, making it the third-most populous c ...

./team/broadcasters.jsp?c_id=det#mario_impemba Detroit Tigers Official Site - Broadcasters - Mario Impemba
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Broadcasting career

Early roles

At Michigan State University, Impemba volunteered to announce whatever games were being broadcast on the university sports network. As a professional, he started out announcing games for the

Peoria Chiefs The Peoria Chiefs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The team was established in 1983 as the Peoria Suns. They are located in Peoria, Illinois, and are named for the Peor ...

single-A baseball club in 1987. Impemba also served as the sports director at

WXCL WXCL (104.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pekin, Illinois and serving the Peoria metropolitan area. It broadcasts a country radio format and is owned by Midwest Communications, Inc. WXCL is one of two outlets in Peoria playin ...

Radio and the play-by-play voice of the Peoria Rivermen of the now-defunct International Hockey League during the 1987-88 season. From 1989 to 1990, Mario served as the voice of the

Quad City Angels Quad as a word or prefix usually means 'four'. It may refer to: Government * Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States * Quadrilateral group, an informal group which i ...

single-A team in Davenport, Iowa. In 1991, Impemba began calling games for the

Tucson Toros The Tucson Toros were a professional baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The original Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League from 1969 to 1997, where they won the PCL Championship in ...

of the Pacific Coast League.Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association Member Profile - Mario Impemba
Impemba served as the radio ( KLAA) and fill-in television (

Fox Sports West Bally Sports West is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios, and operated as part of Bally Sports, along with its sister network Bally Spor ...

and

KCOP-TV KCOP-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet KTTV (channel 11). Both station ...

) play-by-play voice of the

for seven seasons (1995–2001).

Detroit Tigers

Beginning in 2002, Impemba joined the Tigers television team alongside

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

Kirk Gibson Kirk Harold Gibson (born May 28, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He is currently a color commentator for the Detroit Tigers on Bally Sports Detroit and a special assistant for the Tigers. As a player, Gibson ...

, replacing play-by-play commentator

Josh Lewin Josh Lewin is an American sportscaster who works as a play-by-play announcer for the UCLA Bruins football and basketball teams. Early life and career Lewin is originally from Rochester, New York, but lived outside of Boston for several years ...

. In 2003,

Rod Allen Roderick Bernet Allen (born October 5, 1959) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current game analyst for the Miami Marlins on Bally Sports Florida. He formerly worked as an analyst for the Detroit Tigers on Bally Sport ...

replaced Gibson, who was named the Tigers' bench coach that season. The Impemba–Allen tandem would last from 2003 to 2018. In the last few years of his tenure, Impemba occasionally worked alongside Gibson and

Jack Morris John Scott Morris (born May 16, 1955) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1977 and 1994, mainly for the Detroit Tigers. Morris won 254 games throughout his career. Armed ...

. On September 4, 2018, Impemba and Allen were involved in an off-air physical altercation immediately after broadcasting the Tigers' road game against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. Fox Sports Detroit sent the men home on different planes after the game, and the following night's telecast was covered by Matt Shepard and Kirk Gibson. While one source claimed that there was an argument over a chair, followed by Allen putting Impemba in a choke hold, Allen's agent denied that his client choked Impemba. On September 7, Fox Sports Detroit suspended both men from calling any Tigers games for the remainder of the 2018 season. It was later announced that Impemba and Allen's contracts were not renewed for future seasons, ending their 16-year partnership.

Boston Red Sox

On February 13, 2019, Impemba was named as a part-time play-by-play announcer for the

Boston Red Sox Radio Network The Boston Red Sox Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 54 radio stations which carry English language coverage of the Boston Red Sox, a professional baseball team in Major League Baseball (MLB). Lawrence, Massachusetts statio ...

. It was announced in January 2020 that he would not return to the Red Sox.

Mannerism and notable calls

Impemba always announces the game's attendance when there is one out left in the game, and usually rounds down, for example "Bottom of the ninth, two outs, the Tigers are about to win in front of a crowd of better than 41,000 fans—41,212 to be exact." Impemba is also known for calling any catch in which the outfielder holds the glove with palm up a "basket catch." His most common home run call is, "to the track, to the wall, gone!" Impemba, along with Rod Allen, called Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game on June 2, 2010. After

Jim Joyce James Alfred Joyce III (born October 3, 1955) is an American former professional baseball umpire who worked in the American League (AL) from 1987 to 1999 and throughout Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2000 to 2016. He wore uniform number 6 whil ...

mistakenly called the runner safe at first base on what would have been the final out (Galarraga would retire the next Indians batter to end the game), Impemba stated that he "never felt this disappointed after a Tigers victory."

Awards and other works

Impemba had a Tigers blog named "Last Call," hosted on his now-defunct website, ''marioimpemba.com''. His book, ''If These Walls Could Talk: Detroit Tigers'', was published in 2014. Impemba won a Michigan Emmy Award in June 2006 in the sports play-by-play category, and also won the 2014 DSBA

Ty Tyson Edwin Lloyd "Ty" Tyson (May 11, 1888 – December 12, 1968) was an American sports broadcaster and radio play-by-play announcer. Early life Tyson was born in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania and he attended Penn State University. As a young man, ...

Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting, receiving the award in a special pre-game on-field ceremony at

Comerica Park Comerica Park is a baseball stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It has been the home of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers since 2000, when the team left Tiger Stadium. History Construction Founded in 1894, the Tigers had played at the c ...

References

External links

Mario Impemba on FacebookSo you want to be a broadcaster - Take a behind the scenes look on game day with Mario and Rod of FS Detroit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Impemba, Mario Living people American people of Italian descent American television sports announcers Anaheim Angels announcers Boston Red Sox announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College hockey announcers in the United States Detroit Tigers announcers High school basketball announcers in the United States High school football announcers in the United States Major League Baseball broadcasters Michigan State University alumni People from Sterling Heights, Michigan Year of birth missing (living people)