The Detroit-Tigers-TV Announcers Have Always Been Among the Best...... in baseball. The Detroit-Tigers-TV announcers have featured playing greats as well as not-so-greats, but almost all have proven to be popular and entertaining.
I think the very apex of baseball on TV was in the mid to late '60s... before the era of oversaturation... before the advent of ESPN and all their gimmicks. The Tigers televised 40... 40 games a year on their network. The only home contests were weekend afternoons and the rest were almost always night road games... home night telecasts were unheard of. ... and it was almost an event when they were on. "Tigers are on TV tonight" was always the buzz up at Briggs Field where we played our own version of "The Sandlot"... the antithesis of Little League... guys showing up at 9 am, choosing up sides and playing until dinner and often returning after to play until there was no light left. BUT- if the Tigers were on, the field was often vacant. It was the era of those mystical Tiger teams... guys like Kaline, Northrup, Cash, McLain, Lolich, Horton, Wilson. ... and who brought it to us?? "Well thanks Larrah and good evenin' everone... Here's the FIRST pitch of the ballgame and McAuliffe takes it for a striike." Non other than George Kell, a great player back in the day with the Tigers, White Sox, Orioles and "Mr. Mack's Philadelphia Athletics... batting champion in 1949 and purveyor of how baseball oughtta be played! But he almost never came out and said it in so many words... just his attitude, the approval in his voice when someone did something, even (especially!) when it was one of baseball's "little things." You knew what kind of hustling scrapping smart ballplayer George was even if you never saw him play. George never lost his soft trademark Arkansas accent. He came out of Swifton to baseball's Hall of Fame as a player, but could have also made it as a broadcaster. He's retired now... lives in the Swifton area and watches the Tigers on the satellite all the time! Remember some of the phrases?
Other guys in the booth included George's partners such as Larry Osterman out of WKZO in Kalamazoo. Larry worked fromt he mid '60s until the early '80s... put in some time with the Twins telecasts. Kind of a straight play-by-play man to George's colorful character. ... and, of course, Al Kaline, all time Tiger great who grew into the job with George. Al wasn't always smooth, especially at the beginning, but was not afraid to criticize and speak his mind. They made a good team. And now we've got Mario Impemba and Rod Allen. Mario's a Detroit guy and his love for the Tigers always shows... very well regarded by Tiger fans. He seems like one of us. Mario's got a website about baseball broadcastings. It's pretty cool! Check it out here! ... and Rod was a member of the 1984 World Championship Team. He also played in Japan and is FAMOUS for chasing down a pitcher... just a great video. Look for it online in YouTube... also announced for the Diamondbacks a few years ago. He's building a library of trademark phrases as well! Return from Detroit-Tigers-TV to Home |
"Heee hit it like a bullitt... but right at him."