The Tigers TV commentator tried to choke their play by play man:
Fox Sports Detroit announcers Mario Impemba and Rod Allen were absent from Wednesday’s Tigers broadcast because of an alleged physical altercation the night before, according to The Athletic . A later report from Local 4 said that Allen choked Impemba from behind following a disagreement over a chair in the booth, citing unnamed sources.
The duo, which has appeared together for 15 seasons, held a tense relationship that boiled over after Tuesday’s game, according to The Athletic. Impemba and Allen were reportedly sent back to Detroit on separate flights, with Matt Shepard and Kirk Gibson providing last-minute coverage Wednesday.
That’s sad. I remember listening to them in 2006 as the Tigers started coming out of a long stretch of losing seasons, and being impressed with the duo. They were outright giddy about calling games for a winning team. I don’t know what happened, but it sounds like they should never be in a booth together again.
It’s been well known in Tigerland that those two did not get along outside of the booth. But they had always been professional. Will have to watch the start of Tiger Live, their pregame show, to see how it gets handled. Probably just a bland corporate statement about investigating an incident, no further comment.