Mario Impemba - Detroit Tigers: Stories from the Detroit Tigers Dugout, Locker Room, and Press Box

Mario Impemba:

To Cathy, Brett, and Daniel. For all of the summers I spent away from home. For all of the missed games, concerts, and swim meets. For making my dream possible.

Mike Isenberg:

Covering sports is a privilege that I dont take lightly; not many people are lucky enough to work in the field they love. I dedicate this book to my two children, Zachary and Alexandra (Cookie). You guys are the reason I wake up each day, and know that youll always be the top priority in my life.

Contents

Foreword by David Dombrowski

Y ou encounter numerous people working in the game of baseball for 35-plus years, and most have a common denominator in their passion and love for the game. Getting to know and work with Mario Impemba the past 12 seasons has been a true pleasure. You really get a feel for a person when you see and speak with them on a day-in, day-out basis and especially when traveling together on road trips. Mario is someone who appreciates the game and has a genuine affinity for its history, and in particular, the Detroit Tigers. Mario is a proud native Detroiter who grew up watching the Tigers play at old Tiger Stadium, idolizing stars like Alan Trammell, Jack Morris, and Lou Whitaker to name just a few.

Mario often admits his job is a dream job. He cherishes his role doing play-by-play for the Tigers for record-setting numbers of viewers on television. The Tigers have a rich broadcasting history, and Mario was fortunate to be mentored by the great Ernie Harwell. In fact, Marios style, he will tell you, was shaped by listening to great Tigers announcers like Harwell, George Kell, and Paul Carey.

This book is an account of a local youngster who dreamed of following in Ernie Harwells footsteps and into the Tigers broadcast booth. It features stories and experiences of how Mario certainly paid his dues, climbing the ladder from broadcasting in the minor leagues to a 20-year big league career.

Mario, like so many of us in baseball and sports, had to make sacrifices and go where the jobs were, and therefore spent his first seven seasons broadcasting for the Angels before returning home to Detroit in 2002 for his dream job as a Tigers announcer.

Mario has stood the test of time in his years with the Tigers. He demonstrated his professionalism and never wavered during the teams 119-loss season, to now enjoying the renaissance of Tigers baseball and its recent successes.

When you think of all the tradition, the Hall of Fame players and announcers this franchise has had representing the Olde English D, and you fast forward to the teams most recent success, you realize how entrenched Mario now is in Tigers history. He has forever carved his legacy, having described some of the greatest moments in Tigers history, includin g Miguel Cabreras back-to-back MVPs and Triple Crown in 2012, two Justin Verlander no-hitters, and the list goes on. This book provides insight to Marios wonderful story, and the beauty is that there are many more stories and chapters still to come.

David Dombrowski

President, CEO, and General Manager

Detroit Tigers

Acknowledgments

T he authors would like to thank Al Kaline, Brayan Pena, Tim Kurkjian, Jim Leyland, David Dombrowski, Ernie Johnson, Prince Fielder, Miguel Cabrera, Ray Fosse, Torii Hunter, and all others who have shared their insights over the years.

I would also like to thank those who have given me the opportunity to carve out a career in baseball broadcasting, including Pete Vonachen, Mike Feder, John Savano, John Tuohey, the Los Angeles Angels, the Detroit Tigers, and all others who helped to further my career.

Thanks also to all of my colleagues in the game who have served as a sounding board over the years, including my broadcast partners Steve Quis, Bob Starr, Brian Barnhart, Daron Sutton, Rex Hudler, Kirk Gibson, and Rod Allen. A thank-you also to Tigers radio voice Dan Dickerson for his friendship and spending countless hours explaining WAR to me.

Finally, and most importantly, thanks to Dominic and Rose, parents who never questioned my decisions, but rather supported them.

Mario Impemba

Introduction

R eally, eight years in the minor leagues is not a very long time. For a player, yes, but not for a broadcaster.

You couldnt have convinced me of that back in 1994 when I was on the cusp of landing my first major league job with the Angels. I had just finished my eighth year of riding the buses and eating fast food every night. The lifestyle tends to wear you down. Then I hit the lottery. I was hired by a major league team.

Its somewhat strange to think that 27 years have passed since I first put on the headset in Peoria, Illinois, as a minor league broadcaster. The Peoria Chiefs versus the Springfield Cardinals was my first minor league broadcast in 1987. The only thing I can remember from that game is putting down the headsets at the end of a rain-filled night and thinking, Ive got 143 more of these to go?

I wasnt sure this baseball thing was for me.

Now, as I embark on my 20 th season broadcasting in the major leagues, I still cant believe I survived that first night in Peoria, let alone the fact that I showed up the next day.

I know how truly lucky I am. I can rattle off the names of dozens of announcers in the minor leagues who are still waiting for a chance to fulfill their dreams. They are no different from me. I am no more talented than them. I got lucky. They havent yet.

Ive done everything from pulling the tarp and pushing the broken-down team bus in the minors to covering multiple World Series in Detroit. Ive met and worked with personal broadcasting idols like Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey, and Vin Scully, as well as on-field heroes like Al Kaline, Alan Trammell, and Willie Horton. I often wonder why I was given this chance.

Detroit is a city rich in broadcasting talent. Every major sport in this town has produced some of its games best broadcasters. To work among them is a dream.

Broadcasting games into a recorder on your couch in Sterling Heights, Michigan, as a kid seems like a long way from the television booth at Comerica Park. In reality, its not. Aspiring broadcasters need to realize that if I can do it, so can they. With hard work and a dash of luck, anything is doable.

This is a book about some of my experiences. Good or bad, they were all worthwhile.

This I do knowgetting a chance to broadcast Major League Baseball in your home town is something I wish every broadcaster could experience.

It really has been a fascinating ride.

1. The Minors: Paying My Dues

Pass the Toilet Paper

L ike baseball players, most baseball announcers spend time in the minor leagues, honing their skills and hoping for a shot at the big leagues.

Even with that goal in mind, I wouldnt trade one minute of my minor league experience. Where Im now fortunate enough to travel on team charters and stay at five-star hotels, that wasnt always the case. Working in the minor leagues will keep you humble and give you important perspective. It will also teach you how to be resourceful.

In 1987, I was broadcasting for the Peoria Chiefs, the Class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. I was 24 years old and just two years out of college. This was my second job.

The team had just completed a three-game series in Wausau, Wisconsin, with a trip to Appleton awaiting us.

In the minor leagues, broadcasting is often a one-man job. I was serving as announcer, engineer, analyst, and the guy who set up and broke down equipment before and after games. Eventually, it all becomes routine, which is good. If the announcer isnt five minutes early for the bus, hes late, and the team aint waiting.