Matt Shepard remains in the dark about why the Detroit Tigers moved on from him as their play-by-play announcer.
Awful Announcing’s readers, however, might be able to help him figure it out.
Shepard, who called Tigers games from 2019-2023, oversaw a booth that was ranked dead last among all 30 MLB teams in AA’s annual rankings that last season. The drop-off was glaring after the departure of the reasonably well-liked Mario Impemba-Rod Allen duo, although they may not have liked each other much.
That all changed in 2024.
With Jason Benetti taking over, the Tigers’ broadcast skyrocketed into the top 10 of AA’s rankings — the highest rating Detroit has ever received. The difference? A talented, engaging play-by-play voice who brought life back to the booth.
But just because Benetti replaced him doesn’t mean Shepard has closure on the decision that changed his life over 17 months ago. In his first interview since being let go, Shepard told Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press that he still doesn’t know why Bally Sports Detroit (now FanDuel Sports Network Detroit) didn’t renew his contract after five seasons.
Admittedly, there isn’t much about Shepard in AA’s archives. In 2019 — his first season in the booth — Tigers fans and those around the league deemed his contributions worthy of an N0. 28 ranking. Whether they were rooted for Detroit or not, fans didn’t seem to love what he brought to the table.
And that’s without mentioning some of his stranger on-air moments, like in his final season, when he made this bizarre observation about a woman in the stands, “There’s nothing sexier than a woman drinking a Leinenkugel.”
That comment wasn’t why Shepard was let go. He simply wasn’t given a reason.
“No, you can’t push back,” he told Monarrez about not fighting the Tigers’ decision. “You’re not gonna change people’s minds at that point, you know? It’s disappointment. Any time you’re let go, and you’re in a job you enjoy, it’s going to be a disappointment. So you just tell them thanks for the opportunity, appreciate all the support, and you wish them the best, like they wished you.”
Not that X (formerly Twitter) should be confused with real life, but the replies to Monarrez’s article on the Elon Musk-owned social platform make it clear why Shepard’s contract wasn’t renewed — and why he wasn’t exactly a fan favorite.
Benetti, on the other hand, just gets Detroit. He understands the fanbase. There’s no need to pit the two against each other, but the Tigers clearly saw an opportunity to upgrade. That’s why they poached Benetti from a division rival and haven’t thought twice about it since.
“They do a good job,” Shepard said of everyone on the Tigers’ broadcast. “They really do.”