Mario Impemba

Mario Impemba (born March 18, 1963) is an American sportscaster, currently the TV voice of the Detroit Tigers and the radio and TV voice of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team.

Early life

Impemba is a 1981 graduate of Stevenson High School in Sterling Heights, Michigan ^[1] and Michigan State University.^[2] In high school Mario showed the first flashes of his talent as a member to the school's forensic team. He won numerous invitational tournaments before finishing 3rd in the state final tournament.

Broadcasting career

Former Positions

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 single-A baseball club in 1987.^[3] Impemba also served as the sports director at WXCL Radio and the play-by-play voice of the Peoria Rivermen of the now-defunct International Hockey League during the 1987-88 season.^[3] From 1989 to 1990, Mario served as the voice of the Quad City Angels single-A team in Davenport, Iowa. In 1991, Impemba began calling games for the Tucson Toros of the Pacific Coast League.^[3]

Impemba served as the radio (KLAA) and fill-in television (Fox Sports West and KCOP-TV) play-by-play voice of the Anaheim Angels for seven seasons (1995–2001).^[2]

Current roles

Impemba (middle) in the Fox Sports Detroit booth during a Tigers home game

Mario joined the Fox Sports Detroit broadcast team in 2002 as the Detroit Tigers play-by-play announcer.^[2] Mario is teamed up with color commentators Rod Allen, Kirk Gibson, and Jack Morris on the telecasts.^[2]

During the baseball offseason, Impemba is the official radio voice of the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team on WDFN (1130 AM) as well as games on Fox Sports Detroit.^[2]

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". Impemba, along with Rod Allen, called Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game on June 2, 2010. After Jim Joyce made a mistake and called what would have been the final 'out' "safe" (the Tigers would get the next Indians batter out to end the game), Impemba stated that he "never felt this disappointed after a Tigers victory."

Awards and other works

Impemba is a longtime active member of the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association (DSBA), founded in 1948 by pioneer Detroit Tigers announcer Ty Tyson.^[3]

Mario has a Tigers blog named "Last Call", as well as a website, marioimpemba.com

Mario won a Michigan Emmy Award in June 2006 in the sports play-by-play category.^[2] He won the 2014 DSBA Ty Tyson Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting and received the award in a special pre-game on-field ceremony at Comerica Park.

Impemba also does voiceover work in commercials for several Metro Detroit companies.

Personal life

Mario's wife is named Cathy. The couple have 2 sons: Brett (18) and Daniel (15). The Impembas live in Macomb County, Michigan.^[1] Brett was drafted in the 49th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft by the Detroit Tigers, and is committed to playing baseball for Oakland University.^[4]

References

External links

• Mario Impemba on Facebook
• So you want to be a broadcaster - Take a behind the scenes look on game day with Mario and Rod of FS Detroit