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Press & broadcasting / Sports

Ty Tyson

1888–1968 · radio sports announcer

WWJ announcer who called the first Detroit Tigers radio broadcast in 1927 and became the city's first great sports voice.

Born

Philipsburg, Pennsylvania
Died

Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan
aged 80
Birth name
Edwin Lloyd Tyson
Detroit years
1922–1968
Field
Press & broadcasting, Sports

01 / The Detroit story

The Detroit story

Edwin "Ty" Tyson came to Detroit in the early 1920s to work at WWJ, the Detroit News radio station that was only a few months old and one of the first commercial stations in the country. He announced everything from Detroit Symphony concerts to the openings of the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel. On April 19, 1927, he called his first Tigers game from Navin Field, beginning the first full season of radio broadcasts for any major-league team. For years he voiced the Tigers for metro Detroit while Harry Heilmann anchored a statewide network, and he called the 1935 World Series, Detroit's first championship, nationally for NBC. He also broadcast University of Michigan football, the Lions for a season and the Gold Cup powerboat races on the Detroit River. In 1948 he founded the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association and served as its first president.

Highlights

  1. Called the first Tigers radio broadcast on April 19, 1927
  2. WWJ's voice of the Tigers into the early 1940s
  3. Called the 1935 and 1936 World Series for NBC radio
  4. Founded the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association in 1948

02 / Their Detroit places

Their Detroit places 1

Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.

  1. Worked here · 1927–1940s

    Tiger Stadium site (Navin Field / Briggs Stadium), now The Corner Ballpark

    Demolished · 1912–1999

    Tyson broadcast Tigers games from the ballpark's press box from 1927; the stadium was demolished in 2008–2009.

    2121 Trumbull Ave, Detroit, MI 48216Map ↗Source ↗