Tigers Announce The Next Voice of Michigan’s Boys of Summer

Michigan's Boys of Summer, the Detroit Tigers have selected the next play by play voice for the team's television broadcasts on Fox Sports Detroit.

Matt Shepard, a veteran Detroit broadcaster, who already is familiar to Tiger fans, having hosted pre and post game Tigers shows and who filled in at the end of the 2018 season, when the Mario Impemba/Rod Allen relationship imploded, has been given the job full-time.

Shepard will be joined by Tiger legend Kirk Gibson and Hall of Famer Jack Morris in the booth this summer. Gibson's health will determine how many games he will work. Fellow Tiger alums Craig Monroe and Dan Petry will continue with in-studio roles.

Detroit area native Shepard, 53, is a Central Michigan graduate, and has worked games for virtually every Detroit and Michigan team in his career.

In a Detroit News story, columnist Lynn Henning relates the story of Shepard's phone call from Hall of Fame announcer Ernie Harwell early in his career.

Shepard had contacted Harwell while in his 20s and returned home one night to receive the most memorable voicemail of his life: Harwell inviting him to his Farmington Hills home for a get-acquainted visit and consultation. The two men sat at Harwell’s kitchen table as Harwell’s wife, Lulu, served fresh-baked muffins. Harwell’s play-by-play pointers, Shepard later confided, were as important and as indelible as the time spent with his broadcast hero. - Detroit News

According to reports, Shepard is expected to officially announced Tuesday as the next Tigers play by play man, along with an appearance Tuesday evening during the Detroit Red Wings game on Fox Sports Detroit.