If you know me, chances are you probably know that my dream job is to be a professional baseball play-by-play broadcaster. What you might not know is that that’s been my dream job ever since I became a baseball fan. I’ve always subconsciously paid very close attention to what the broadcasters are saying: their word choices and tone of voice. And sometimes, those things come together to make the perfect call.
Since I’m this insane about broadcasters and their calls, one of my all-time favorite calls isn’t what you’d expect. It’s not Jon Miller, it’s not Vin Scully, it’s not Joe Buck, it’s not Duane Kuiper. Suffice to say, we won’t see you tomorrow night.
It’s from an August game between two AL Central teams that missed the playoffs that year. In fact, if you were to ask someone to name some of the most irrelevant and boring teams in MLB, odds are they would mention the two teams that squared off in this game: the White Sox and Tigers. That might not have been the case in 2016, when the game took place, but still.
If you’re an insane baseball fan like me, you might remember this home run. However, it’s definitely not in the pantheon of David Freeses and Rajai Davises and Ozzie Smiths and Travis Ishikawas who have elicited unforgettable calls. It’s not even well-known enough to be circulated on the engagement-farming baseball Twitter accounts that want to make sure you know that the umpire doesn’t decide if it’s strike three… Buster Posey does.
Here it is:
This was the first major-league game that J.D. Martinez had played in a month and a half. Play-by-play broadcaster Mario Impemba doesn’t explicitly say that, but when he says, “Look who’s pinch-hitting,” it’s pretty clear that J.D. hasn’t been seen for a while. The Tigers were on a seven-game winning streak and within reach of a playoff spot at this time, so Comerica Park was pretty full. Full enough for Martinez to get a standing ovation that is still audible when Chris Sale goes into his windup.
Oh, yeah, Martinez is facing Chris Sale. A few weeks earlier, Sale had been selected to his fifth of seven All-Star games in a row, a stretch that lasted from 2012 to 2018. He had led the American League in strikeouts with 274 the previous season and was rocking a 3.17 ERA coming into this start. Welcome back, J.D.!
Enough exposition. Let’s get into the actual call. Impemba let the ovation breathe for a second before saying, “Oh, if he hits one out right here…”
Broadcasters don’t usually say things like that. Yes, everyone’s thinking it, but it’s usually not something you say. In my opinion, one reason is that some people are afraid of a jinx, and another is that it’s so unlikely that saying that is just getting people’s hopes up for no reason. It would be amazing, but don’t set yourself up for disappointment.
As I said, Martinez’s ovation was still audible when Sale went into his windup. I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love when somebody hits a home run while the crowd is already loud. Everyone at the ballpark was thinking the same thing Impemba said, even if they couldn’t hear him. They all knew that it was unlikely, but if he hits one out right here…it would be incredible. While their applause was more for the fact that he was just standing in the batter’s box rather than anticipation of a home run, it still added so much to the moment. Perhaps they let the applause run into the first pitch because they figured he would surely take it. I mean, it was the first major-league pitch he had seen in a month and a half. No way he would try to hit it. Right?
“Swing and a drive! Deep left-center field! And…gone!”
Pretty standard home run call. Yeah, he was more excited than the average call, but in terms of what he said while the ball was in the air, it’s nothing special.
The part that really gets me is the very next thing he said. Let me quote him again, but extend it a tad more.
“Swing and a drive! Deep left-center field! And…gone! (pause) It’s gone!”
In a big moment like that, good broadcasters like Impemba know that after they say “gone” or whatever their home run call is, they should shut up and let the roar of the crowd do the talking. Mario didn’t do that. Usually, I’d be annoyed by this, but in this case, it’s what makes the call so special. He had to say it was gone twice because he still couldn’t believe it after the first time. It’s the only call like that that I know of. Sometimes, breaking the rules is a good thing.
Impemba accentuated the call with a “Welcome back, J.D.!” that the excitement is just dripping from. It’s contagious, really. Then, he let the exploding Comerica Park crowd speak for itself. After it quieted down a little, he dropped his trademark “Holy cats.”
“Holy–all 40,000 people here in attendance, they’re on their feet!” said color commentator Rod Allen.
“I don’t believe I just saw that.”
“I don’t believe that either.”
At this point, Mario and Rod don’t even sound like professional broadcasters anymore. And that’s a good thing. They’re just as amazed as everyone else in the ballpark. They just sound like two buddies just watching the game from behind the plate.
“On the first pitch from Sale, it’s 2-1, Tigers!” Impemba then exclaimed, bringing the conversation back to normal broadcast language.
“He took him straight central too, Mario, out in the bushes!” Allen exclaimed, not ready to do that yet. He’s still in shock at what just happened. The ball went over the fence 40 seconds ago, and he’s just now processing where it landed. And can you blame him? It all happened so fast. It wasn’t supposed to happen at all.
It’s already amazing that Martinez homered on the first major-league pitch he’d seen in a month and a half. It’s another thing that it was a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning. It’s another thing that the Tigers were riding a seven-game winning streak. And it’s yet another thing that it was off Chris Sale.
And still, everything had to come together perfectly to make this call what it was. Impemba had to say what everyone thinks but few say aloud. Comerica Park had to be full enough to still hear the ovation during the first pitch. Martinez had to homer on that first pitch. It had to be a no-doubter, 434 feet to be exact. And Impemba had to absolutely nail the call, which he did (at least in my opinion), and did so by breaking a common rule of how a broadcaster should handle big moments.
I don’t know how Impemba feels about this call. I don’t know if he even thinks about it. Maybe he doesn’t like the fact that he interrupted the crowd noise to say gone a second time. But I love it. It’s one of my favorite calls of all time.
The Tigers won the game by that score of 2-1, as Francisco Rodriguez induced a bases-loaded groundout from Dioner Navarro for the Tigers’ eighth win in a row. The streak was snapped the next day with a 6-3 White Sox win.
What is left to say? I’ll just default to reading Nick Castellanos’ lips as Martinez touched home plate: “That was fucking insane!”
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