As most of you probably know by now, Mario Impemba and Rod Allen have called their final game for FSN Detroit and the Detroit Tigers.
In early September, the two long-time booth partners were involved in an altercation that reportedly got physical in nature. Both Impemba and Allen were suspended for the remainder of the 2018 season and on Tuesday, it was revealed that they will not be returning to the booth in 2019.
So, the question becomes, who replaces Impemba and Allen on the FSN Detroit telecasts?
In my opinion, the answer to that question is a no-brainer.
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Replacing Mario Impemba
First of all, let me begin by saying that Mario Impemba is a class act and it will be sad to watch Tigers’ telecasts without hearing his voice. He is a true professional and it’s sad that things eventually came to this point.
The perfect candidate to replace Impemba as the play-by-play man is none other than Dan Dickerson. Dickerson, as you probably are aware, is currently the play-by-play man for Tigers’ radio and he has been since he took over for the great Ernie Harwell following Harwell’s retirement in 2002.
There is just something about Dickerson’s voice that is soothing to the ear and he brings knowledge of the Tigers to the table on a daily basis.
The only question is, are the Tigers willing to move Dickerson from a role that he is so good at? As we know, the radio end of things is something that has been important to the Tigers and their fans for a very long time. That being said, TV is where the money is at and it would be wise for the Tigers to make this wise move.
From Detroit News:
“The Tigers view radio as baseball bedrock. While it’s TV that carries the cachet in 2018, baseball radio plays to a core audience as important to the Tigers’ broadcast landscape as the Rocky Mountains are to Colorado’s.
Tigers execs will be open to any conversation that makes sense as their broadcast teams for 2019 are arranged. But it’s no secret they, along with his radio audience, love Dickerson in his traditional role.”
Replacing Rod Allen
As much as I loved Mario Impemba in the booth, my feelings for Rod Allen are almost the polar opposite. Rumors are floating around that he was less than professional and that his lack of a good work ethic is part of the reason why he and Impemba did not see eye to eye.
That being said, whether or not Allen worked hard has nothing to do with why I was not his No. 1 fan. It is my opinion that he did not bring much to the table at all during his time as Impemba’s partner on the air. Sure, he was goofy, but when I watch a baseball game, I like to learn about the game and that did not happen too often with Rod.
The perfect replacement for Rod Allen (and the perfect partner for Dan Dickerson) is former Detroit Tigers pitcher, Dan Petry. Petry is knowledgeable about the game of baseball and he just so happened to be part of the last Tigers’ team to win the World Series.
If Petry were to be partnered up with Dan Dickerson, it would not be the first time the two worked together. Back in 2002, Petry filled in as the color commentator on Tigers’ radio while Dickerson’s then and current wingman Jim Price was dealing with health issues.
From Detroit News:
“The Tigers, and perhaps FSD, have been waiting for some time to make him a regular. As with Gibson and another one-time Tigers co-pilot, Jack Morris, Petry has a pedigree from 1984 and the Tigers’ last championship. He also is known as a dream partner. It is safe to say had he been in the booth the past decade, Impemba would be returning to next year’s FSD booth, minus incidents or stresses.”
