The Tigers haven’t had a particularly good or interesting season. They have the sixth-worst record in the majors, but they’re number one when it comes to broadcaster drama.
The strange tale of the fighting Tigers broadcasters
In Saturday’s Say Hey, Baseball, we examine the angry Tigers broadcasters, Rhys Hoskins in disguise, and another heartbreaking Tommy John surgery.
Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Play-by-play guy Mario Impemba and analyst and color commentator Rod Allen got into a fight. And not just any fight -- an actual physical altercation. Katie Strang of The Athletic reported on Thursday that the reason Impemba and Allen were absent from the Tigers Wednesday broadcast was that they’d gotten into a fight, and someone had to separate them.
It gets crazier. According to WDIV, the whole thing was over a chair. Something about a chair in the booth set either Impemba or Allen off. Impemba reportedly left the booth at the end of the game and Allen followed. Then Allen grabbed Impemba from behind and started choking him. Can you imagine this happening outside a baseball broadcast booth? Ot at any workplace? Or literally anywhere?
Now, was this really about a chair? Who knows. Impemba and Allen have been calling games together for over 15 years, and they’re not known for being the friendliest toward each other. When you have an argument with someone you’ve known for 15 years, how often is it actually about the silly thing you think you’re fighting over? Of course, this argument didn’t end with a hug or an “I’m sorry” card or an Edible Arrangement. It “ended” with Allen reportedly chasing after Impemba and strangling him.
WDIV pointed out that the signs of Impemba’s and Allen’s fight were more apparent than you’d think. They went back and listened to the broadcast and heard a number of long silences in the back half of the game, including a 43-second silence in the sixth inning. Yikes.
The two won’t be working any more Tigers broadcasts this season, separate or together. Fox Sports Detroit announced Friday that both broadcasters were done for the season, though they didn’t mention if they were suspended and whether they’d be paid. It’s not clear what will happen from here, whether the network will call in an entirely new broadcast team, or if just one of them will come back.
This genuinely might be the most interesting thing to happen to the Tigers all season. But if you’re the Tigers, and your options for being interesting are an embarrassing broadcaster situation that’s only tangentially related to you, or having a season like the Orioles, I’m pretty sure you go with the broadcaster stuff every time.
- Tony Gwynn’s family, which had been suing the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco company for the Hall of Famer’s wrongful death, has reached an out-of-court settlement with the company.
- The Cubs-Nationals game Friday night was delayed by rain for three hours, and finally postponed once the rain had, of course, stopped. Is anyone surprised that MLB handled this in pretty much the worst way possible? No! Hire some freaking meteorologists, MLB, for the love of all that’s holy.
- The opener in baseball has been an interesting strategy, but Drays Bay broke down why some available metrics (and traditional methods of payment) don’t — and won’t — do pitchers like Ryan Yarbrough justice.
- As the minor league playoffs continue (for example, the Class A Lakewood eliminated Kannapolis last night with a no-hitter and advanced to the finals), this is a good time to remind everyone that minor leaguers are paid like crap and desperately need to unionize.
- Michael Kopech needs Tommy John surgery and will be out until spring training 2020, because baseball fans (especially White Sox fans, apparently) aren’t allowed to have nice things. Never pitch, kids.
- Rhys Hoskins designed his own Phillies hat, and then dressed up as a clubhouse store employee named David to convince people to buy them while the Phillies filmed. Hoskins clearly had a ball doing it, and the look on the kids faces when they realize it’s him is pretty much perfect.
- With Shohei Otani certain to miss 2019 no matter when he gets Tommy John surgery, talk of the Angels trading Mike Trout has surfaced again. Talking Chop laid out one scenario — for entertainment purposes only, of course.
- It hasn’t been the worst year for the Giants, but it hasn’t been an inspiring one, either. With most of their roster locked in for 2019, are they likely to improve?
- There’s been talk of moving Gary Sanchez out of the catcher’s position for the Yankees, but Pinstripe Alley argues that Sanchez should stay there for the long haul.
- Jered Weaver spent almost his entire career with the Angels, yet they haven’t signed him to a ceremonial one-day contract so he can retire with the team. Are the Angels failing him? Halos Heaven examines that question.
See More:
