DETROIT – The Tigers will have a new play-by-play voice on their television broadcasts next season. Matt Shepard, the television voice of the Tigers since September 2018, will not return to the Bally Sports Detroit telecasts for 2024.
“Bally Sports Detroit thanks Matt Shepard for his five seasons of dedication in the Tigers television booth, and wish him the best in his future endeavors,” Bally Sports Detroit senior vice president and general manager Greg Hammaren said in a statement Tuesday. “He’s been a great teammate and has an incredible passion for Detroit sports and bringing compelling storylines to millions of fans every year. Change is often difficult, but we feel it’s time to head in a new direction and are looking forward to the process of finding our next play-by-play voice of the Tigers.”
No further decisions were announced.
Baseball was Shepard’s passion, and he worked his way into the Tigers booth as a fill-in on broadcasters. He took over full-time duties in September 2018 after Mario Impemba and Rod Allen were suspended following an incident in the broadcast booth.
Shepard worked with a rotation of analysts on Tigers broadcasts, most recently former Tigers Craig Monroe, Kirk Gibson and Dan Petry. Hall of Famer Jack Morris was a broadcast partner from 2019 to 2022 before he and the network parted ways.
Bally Sports Detroit experimented with several “players only” broadcasts this season, pairing Monroe, Petry and Gibson with former Tigers closer Todd Jones and former Tigers outfielder Cameron Maybin. Shepard would be off for those series. That won’t be a full-time option.
Unlike when Shepard stepped in for Impemba in 2018, there’s no natural replacement this time. Though Tigers radio play-by-play broadcaster Dan Dickerson has done several television broadcasts over the years, he’s known to love the radio side and is expected to remain there, where he has become a familiar voice over the last 24 seasons. No play-by-play broadcaster has come in from another market to join the Tigers broadcast team since the Michigan-born Impemba was hired from the Angels to replace Josh Lewin in 2002. Bally Sports Detroit conducted a national search after the 2018 season before naming Shepard to the full-time role.
The opening is the second on Tigers broadcasters. Another decision looms on the radio side on how best to replace the late Jim Price, who passed away in July after 30 years on Tigers games. The Tigers and Audacy used a rotation of analysts alongside Dickerson, primarily former Tigers outfielder Andy Dirks on home games and former University of Michigan captain Bobby Scales on road games.