Tigers TV broadcasters through the years

Harry Heilmann and Ty Tyson were the first Tigers' TV broadcast duo, working in 1950 and 1951 on WWJ-TV.

Van Patrick did Tigers TV from 1952-59, first on WWJ then on WJBK. His first year, he worked solo; he worked with Dizzy Trout from 1953-55, Mel Ott from 1956-58, and George Kell in 1959.

Dizzy Trout worked three years on Tigers TV, alongside Van Patrick, from 1953-55 on WJBK.

Baseball Hall-of-Famer Mel Ott did three years of Tigers TV, as an analyst from 1956-58 working alongside Van Patrick on WJBK.

Former Tigers player George Kell, right, joined the booth in 1959, working alongside van Patrick. Kell then recommended the Tigers hire a broadcaster named Ernie Harwell, left. The two worked together from 1959-63 calling Tigers TV on WJBK.

Bob Scheffing, the Tigers manager from 1961-63, joined Ernie Harwell in the WJBK booth for the 1964 season.

Ray Lane joined the WJBK booth in 1965 and worked alongside George Kell through the 1966 season. Lane would go on to be Ernie Harwell's radio partner prior to Paul Carey, and much later, he returned to TV, as a pregame host on WKBD from 1995-2003.

George Kell, pictured in 1980, worked alongside Larry Osterman, not pictured, from 1967-77, first on WJBK, then on WWJ. Osterman was the son-in-law of then-Tigers owner John Fetzer.

Local TV personality Don Kremer, presenting a prize to a Soap Box Derby winner in the 1960s, joined the Tigers TV booth for two season, in 1975-76 on WWJ, working alongside George Kell, Larry Osterman and Al Kaline.

George Kell, left, and Al Kaline, right, two Tigers Hall-of-Fame players, would first work the Tigers TV broadcasts together in 1976. They would spend 21 years working alongside each other, the longest Tigers TV tandem ever, through 1996, from WWJ to WDIV to WKBD. In 1977 and 1978, they were joined by Joe Pellegrino, and in 1978-79 Mike Barry joined the booth. But from 1980-96, it was just George and Al.

Norm Cash, a fan favorite as a player in the 1960s, joined the Tigers' new TV venture -- ONTV, a subscription service (think cable, before cable). From 1981-83, he worked alongside Larry Adderley and Hank Aguirre.

Long-time Tigers pitcher Hank Aguirre was part of the ONTV broadcast team from 1981-83, alongside Larry Adderley and Norm Cash.

In 1984, along came cable channel PASS Sports. Legendary Tigers catcher Bill Freehan broadcast the games from 1984-85, alongside Larry Osterman in 1984, and both Osterman and Jim Northrup in 1985.

Jim Northrup, the "Silver Fox" and 1968 World Series hero, joined PASS Sports in 1985 and worked alongside Larry Osterman through 1992. He worked with Jim Price in 1993, and Price and Ernie Harwell in 1994.

Long-time Tigers radio voice Jim Price got his broadcasting start with the team doing TV, in 1993 on PASS Sports with Jim Northrup. He worked for PASS through 1996, also working with Fred McLeod and Ernie Harwell. He was part of the first Fox Sports Detroit season in 1997, alongside McLeod and Harwell.

Ernie Harwell, after being fired a couple years ago, returned to the Tigers after Mike Ilitch bought the team. He worked a variety of roles in his early days back, calling games on PASS Sports from 1994-96, Fox Sports Detroit in 1997, and WKBD in 1997, while also doing radio.

Al Kaline would continue to broadcast Tigers games after George Kell retired after the 1996 season, working on WKBD through 2001, with the likes of Ernie Harwell, Jim Price and Frank Beckmann.

From 1998-2001 on Fox Sports Detroit, a young sportscaster named Josh Lewin, left, worked alongside Tigers legend Kirk Gibson. They developed quite the following, and were affectionately known as "Gibby and the Geek."

Frank Beckmann

Detroit native Tom Paciorek, a longtime member of the White Sox broadcast crew alongside legendary Hawk Harrelson, joined the Tigers and FSD for one season, in 2000, working with Josh Lewin and Kirk Gibson.

Former Tigers catcher Lance Parrish joined the Tigers booth for a season, on WKBD in 2002, the year after Al Kaline retired. He worked alongside Frank Beckmann.

Jack Morris worked Tigers games in 2003, the last year of free TV, alongside Frank Beckmann. He would return in 2016 and 2017 to do occasional games on Fox Sports Detroit, as the Tigers went to a rotation of analysts.

In 2002, the Tigers and Fox Sports Detroit hired Metro Detroit native and Michigan State alum Mario Impemba, whose dream job always was to call Detroit Tigers games. That first season, he worked alongside Kirk Gibson.

Former Tigers TV broadcaster Rod Allen has been hired to broadcast Marlins games.

Mario Impemba and Rod Allen would go on to work 16 years together, including from 2003-14 as the lone members of the Fox Sports Detroit team.

In 2015, Fox Sports Detroit decided to bring in extra analyst, including Kirk Gibson and Jack Morris, while Rod Allen still did most of the games with Mario Impemba. Gibson continues to do analyst work, while Morris did just two years, 2015-16.

A physical altercation in Chicago in early September 2018 earned Mario Impemba and Rod Allen suspensions for the rest of the season.

In early October 2018, Fox Sports Detroit decided to part with both Mario Impemba and Rod Allen. They worked together 16 years, the second-longest Tigers TV tandem, behind only George Kell and Al Kaline (21 years).