Detroit Tigers: 4 dream candidates to be the next TV play-by-play announcer

Mario Impemba

Dickerson may have been exempt from the list, but not Mario Impemba. Tigers fans have been yearning for him to return to the booth ever since the infamous chair incident back in 2018. The less said about that, the better.

Impemba was, of course, the Tigers play-by-play guy from 2002-18. He saw the Tigers at their worst, and at their best. He was one of the most consistent announcers out there.

He was a Michigan native too, which made things even better. He still lives in the area to this day.

After being let go by the Tigers, we was the Red Sox radio play-by-play guy in 2019 before leaving broadcasting entirely.

After Shepard's firing yesterday, the calls for Impemba to return only got louder. But a story from Tony Paul of the Detroit News ($$$) came out on Tuesday, and pretty much put the kibosh on that idea. Impemba told Paul that he was no interest in returning, even if Bally Sports offered him the job.

We also got some more details about how Impemba's tenure ended, and they was just sad. We recommend you read the story for yourself.

In short, Mario is not coming back. That shipped has long since sailed. It would have been awesome to see him back in the booth, but the Tigers and Bally Sports Detroit will be looking elsewhere.