Roderick Bernet Allen (born October 5, 1959) is an American former professional baseball

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

and current game analyst for the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fra ...

on Bally Sports Florida. He formerly worked as an analyst for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

on Bally Sports Detroit and Fox Saturday Baseball. He played for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...

, Tigers, and the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

of the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB), and also the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Mats ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB). He previously worked as an analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Baseball

Playing career

Allen was selected by 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 ...

in the sixth round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft. He enjoyed a brief stint with the

in 1983. He was 23 years old when he made his major league debut on April 7, 1983. He hit .296 in 27 at-bats during a 15-game stint as an

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by t ...

with the World Series Champion Detroit Tigers in 1984, but was not on the team during the postseason. He enjoyed another brief stint in the majors with the

in 1988. Allen spent the last three years of his playing career with the

of the NPB. He hit a pair of

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s against Seibu Lions in the 1991 Japan Series and set a Japanese regular season record with four home runs in four consecutive at bats during his time in the league. He is infamous for charging the mound after Yokohama Taiyo Whales pitcher Kazuhiko Daimon hit him in the back with a pitch, subsequently chasing Daimon across the entire field with both teams' benches in tow.

Coaching career

Prior to his work as a broadcaster, Allen spent four seasons as a hitting instructor in the Florida Marlins organization from 1992 through 1995. In 1994 and 1995, he was the

hitting coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

for the

Kane County Cougars The Kane County Cougars are an independent professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play their ...

, the Marlins Single-A affiliate in the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganiza ...

. Some of the notable batters he coached include

Mike Redmond Michael Patrick Redmond (born May 5, 1971) is an American former professional baseball catcher and manager. He is currently the bench coach for the Colorado Rockies. He played for 13 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Florida Marlins, Mi ...

Kevin Millar Kevin Charles Millar (; born September 24, 1971) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) and is a current analyst for MLB Network. He played in MLB for the Florida Marli ...

, and Luis Castillo. During his time in the organization, Allen worked under Marlins GM Dave Dombrowski, who would later become the Tigers president, CEO, and general manager.

Broadcasting

Arizona Diamondbacks

From 1998 to 2002 he spent five seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks as a television (

Fox Sports Arizona Bally Sports Arizona (BSAZ) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts pro ...

) and radio ( KTAR) analyst. He served as the

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 ...

on the Diamondbacks radio broadcasts during the 2001 postseason, including the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...

win against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

. Allen was replaced as Diamondbacks television analyst by former major leaguer

Mark Grace Mark Eugene Grace (born June 28, 1964) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman who spent 12 seasons with the Chicago Cubs and three seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks of the National League (NL). He was a member of the 2001 Wor ...

Detroit Tigers

Allen was the regular color commentator on Detroit Tigers telecasts for Fox Sports Detroit, joined by play-by-play man

Mario Impemba 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 on both television and radi ...

. Allen won Michigan Emmys in 2006 and 2007 for his analysis of Detroit Tigers baseball. Allen is a longtime member of the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association founded in 1948 by Tigers broadcaster

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, he ...

. On September 21, 2016, Tigers catcher James McCann hit a three-run home run against the Minnesota Twins that put the Tigers up 6-0 in the sixth inning. Allen excitedly shouted "Second Deck!", but when heard, it sounds like "suck a dick." This was picked up by Detroit radio station

WXYT-FM WXYT-FM (97.1 MHz "97-1 The Ticket") is a commercial radio station in Detroit, Michigan, serving Metro Detroit and much of Southeast Michigan. It airs a sports radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. Its studios and offices are located i ...

and it became their most popular drop. On September 4, 2018, Allen and Impemba were allegedly involved in a physical altercation off the air after broadcasting the Tigers game against the

. Fox Sports Detroit sent the men home on different planes after the game, and the next night's telecast was covered by Kirk Gibson and field-level reporter Matt Shepard. One source claimed that there was an argument over a chair, followed by Allen using a choke hold on Impemba, but 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.

''Fox Saturday Baseball''

In addition to his work for the Diamondbacks and Tigers, Allen did color commentary for '' Fox Saturday Baseball'', including games involving the Tigers until 2018.

Miami Marlins

In March 2022 it was announced that Allen would be joining Bally Sports Florida as an analyst for Miami Marlins telecasts.

Family life

Allen and his wife, Adrian, have four children: Rhonda, Rod, Jr., Andrew, and Rachel. The Allens live in the

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

area. Rod, Jr. was selected by the

in the 12th round of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft after a collegiate career at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. He played the 2004 season with the Staten Island Yankees in the New York–Penn League, and played for the Class A Winston-Salem Warthogs in 2006 and 2007. His most recent professional stint was in 2011 with the White Sands Pupfish in the Pecos League. Andrew was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 43rd round of the 2007 Major League Baseball draft. He attended

Desert Vista High School Desert Vista High School is a public high school located in the Ahwatukee area of Phoenix, Arizona. Opened in 1996, it is the second Tempe Union High School District (TUHSD) school in Ahwatukee and serves approximately 3,000 students. Academi ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Rod 1959 births Living people African-American baseball players African-American sports announcers American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Appleton Foxes players Arizona Diamondbacks announcers Baseball coaches from California Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Cleveland Indians players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Detroit Tigers announcers Detroit Tigers players Edmonton Trappers players Evansville Triplets players Glens Falls White Sox players Gulf Coast White Sox players Hiroshima Toyo Carp players Iowa Oaks players Knoxville Sox players Leones de Yucatán players Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Maine Guides players Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Rochester Red Wings players Salt Lake City Gulls players Seattle Mariners players Baseball players from Los Angeles Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos players Waterbury Indians players