Detroit Tigers: 4 dream candidates to be the next TV play-by-play announcer

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Matt Shepard was let go yesterday by Bally Sports Detroit. He was the Tigers play-by-play announcer for five years. While fans generally were not too keen on him as an announcer, most people can agree that he's a good person.

Supposedly the Tigers are going to shoot for the moon in trying to find Shepard's replacement. This got us thinking, who would be some dream candidiates to fill this job?

With the help of some crowdsourcing on our X (Twitter) page, we came up with a few names, while pretty unrealistic, that we'd love to see become the next TV voice of the Detroit Tigers.

One disclaimer before we begin: Dan Dickerson will NOT be on this list. He has said many times that he likes it on the radio and does not have interest in moving to TV. Plus, he's one of the best radio guys out there. Why mess with a good thing?

With that out of the way,

Here are four dream candidates to be the next play-by-play announcer for the Detroit Tigers

Joe Davis

Davis is a Michigan native and is widely considered to be one of the best broadcasters around right now. He'll turn 36 in December, so he's very young for an announcer.

He's currently the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was hired to take the place of the legendary Vin Scully. That's how highly thought of he is.

He also does some national stuff, including both college and NFL football for FOX, as well as the World Series. He's very, very good, and would be a fantastic get if the Tigers could land him.

The problem is they'd have to pay him a lot of money, and I mean A LOT. He's said how much he loves calling Dodgers games. Plus, they'd likely have to get a temporary fill-in guy for when football season starts.

Davis grew up in Potterville, Michigan, which is in the Lansing area. Would he give up doing a job he loves if he meant coming back home? It doesn't seem likely, but you know what they say, money talks.

Don Orsillo

From one play-by-play announcer for a west coast team to another, Orsillo is one of the best baseball announcers around. His emphatic calls, while some consider to be a bit over the top, would be a massive upgrade over Shepard's monotone calls.

Orsillo currently calls games for the Padres. He replaced another legendary broadcaster in Dick Enberg when he retired. He was previously the play-by-play announcer for the Red Sox for 15 seasons.

You may know him for his calls such as "Welcome to Slam Diego!" back in 2020, or this one in 2021 when a relief pitcher hit a grand slam for the Padres off Max Scherzer — yes, you read that correctly.

The likelihood of him leaving the Padres is slim to none, but he would be outstanding. Imagine having to choose between him or Dickerson every night. That would be something.

Gary Thorne

Thorne is a broadcasting veteran. He's done a lot of work with ESPN over the years, doing both baseball and hockey. He was the play-by-play guy for the Orioles from 2007-2020.

His signatures calls include "Goodbye, home run!" and "Mercy!" Chances are, you've watched a game called by him at some point.

The main reason as to why this wouldn't happen is that Thorne is 75 years old. He's probably not going to keep doing this for much longer. The Tigers would likely be right back in this same position in a few years.

Thorne would a good hire for a few years, but the Tigers would be better off going for someone a bit younger.

Mario Impemba

Dickerson may have been exempt from the list, but not Mario Impemba. Tigers fans have been yearning for him to return to the booth ever since the infamous chair incident back in 2018. The less said about that, the better.

Impemba was, of course, the Tigers play-by-play guy from 2002-18. He saw the Tigers at their worst, and at their best. He was one of the most consistent announcers out there.

He was a Michigan native too, which made things even better. He still lives in the area to this day.

After being let go by the Tigers, we was the Red Sox radio play-by-play guy in 2019 before leaving broadcasting entirely.

After Shepard's firing yesterday, the calls for Impemba to return only got louder. But a story from Tony Paul of the Detroit News ($$$) came out on Tuesday, and pretty much put the kibosh on that idea. Impemba told Paul that he was no interest in returning, even if Bally Sports offered him the job.

We also got some more details about how Impemba's tenure ended, and they was just sad. We recommend you read the story for yourself.

In short, Mario is not coming back. That shipped has long since sailed. It would have been awesome to see him back in the booth, but the Tigers and Bally Sports Detroit will be looking elsewhere.

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Here are four dream candidates to be the next play-by-play announcer for the Detroit Tigers

Joe Davis

Don Orsillo

Gary Thorne

Mario Impemba

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