Daniel Hill Dickerson (born November 13, 1958) is an American sportscaster, best known for his current position as the lead radio

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

voice of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's Detroit Tigers on the

Detroit Tigers Radio Network The Detroit Tigers Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 49 radio stations which carry English-language coverage of the Detroit Tigers, a professional baseball team in Major League Baseball (MLB). Detroit's WXYT-FM (97.1 ...

Early life and education

Dickerson grew up in

Birmingham, Michigan Birmingham is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Detroit located along the Woodward Corridor ( M-1). As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,103. History The area comprising what is now the ...

, the son of James Preston Dickerson (1926–2000) and Rosemary Dickerson (''née'' Wilcox). James was a political science professor at Oakland Community College whom Ronald Reagan appointed in 1981 as the special assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense. Dickerson attended the Cranbrook School in

Bloomfield Hills Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Bir ...

before graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in 1980.

Early career

He began his radio career at WMAX in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

as a news anchor and reporter. He also covered high-school football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. He moved to competitor WCUZ in 1982, where he would cover sports for the next six years. Dickerson moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

in 1988 and WWJ, where he served as a general assignment news reporter and weekend news and sports anchor. He also hosted the post-game call-in show for the station's Detroit Lions broadcasts. In 1995, Dickerson moved to crosstown competitor WJR, where he held a variety of positions. He served as co-host of the weeknight sports call-in show ''Sportswrap''; morning sports anchor; sideline reporter and fill-in play-by-play announcer for Michigan Wolverines football; and play-by-play announcer for Michigan basketball for two seasons. While visiting with legendary Tigers announcer

Ernie Harwell William Earnest Harwell (January 25, 1918 – May 4, 2010) was an American sportscaster, known for his long career calling play-by-play of Major League Baseball games. For 55 seasons, 42 of them with the Detroit Tigers, Harwell called the actio ...

in the WJR booth during the final game at Tiger Stadium in 1999, Dickerson was invited by Harwell to call an inning of play-by-play. The following season, he joined the Tigers' radio broadcast team full-time, calling the middle innings of each game while Harwell handled the rest. Along with former Tigers catcher and color analyst Jim Price, this crew remained intact for three full seasons, even as the team switched radio flagship stations (from WJR to WXYT) at the end of the 2000 season.

Current roles

Dickerson took over as lead play-by-play announcer on Tigers radio following Harwell's retirement at the end of the 2002 season, working with Price as a two-man crew. Dickerson has called several events for

Fox Sports Detroit Bally Sports Detroit (BSD) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group that operates as a Bally Sports affiliate. It provides coverage of local sports teams in the state of Michigan, primarily focusing on those in Metro ...

television, including high school football since 2002, a

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...

hockey game in 2008, and

Detroit Titans The Detroit Mercy Titans (formerly known as the Detroit Titans) are the athletic teams of University of Detroit Mercy. The University is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. The school primarily competes in ...

basketball games in 2010 and 2011. Dickerson is a longtime member of the Detroit Sports Media Association, founded in 1948 by pioneering Tigers announcer

Ty Tyson Edwin Lloyd "Ty" Tyson (May 11, 1888 – December 12, 1968) was an American sports broadcaster and radio play-by-play announcer. Early life Tyson was born in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania and he attended Penn State University. As a young man, ...

. He was honored by DSMA in 2009 with the Tyson Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting, and has been named Michigan Sportscaster of the Year three times (2005, 2006, 2014) by the

National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association The National Sports Media Association (NSMA), formerly the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, is an organization of sports media members in the United States, and constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports P ...

. During the Tigers' 2016 season, Dickerson moved to the television booth to call several road series for Fox Sports Detroit while regular TV announcer Mario Impemba joined Jim Price in the radio booth, an experiment that was discarded the following season. Dickerson also appears as the Detroit Tigers correspondent on

MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox C ...

's weekday afternoon baseball news show ''The Rundown''. He also hosts a hot stove podcast with Pat Caputo called ''TigerTalk'' during the winter months, available on the Tigers' website and iTunes.

Broadcasting style

In a 2006 interview, Dickerson described his broadcasting style: Dickerson's typical home run call is "Way back and ''gone!''" For long home runs hit by Tigers, he often uses an exuberant "''Watch it'' fly!" For strikeouts, Dickerson's typical call is "''Swing'' and a miss—he ''got 'im'' on strikes!"

Memorable calls

On October 14, 2006, when

Magglio Ordóñez Magglio José Ordóñez Delgado (; born January 28, 1974) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball right fielder. He played for the Chicago White Sox (1997–2004) and Detroit Tigers (2005–2011). Ordóñez is tall and weighs . Having p ...

hit a walk-off home run in Game 4 of the ALCS, making the Tigers the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

champions for the first time since 1984: On June 12, 2007, when Tigers pitcher

Justin Verlander Justin Brooks Verlander ( ; born February 20, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros. From Manakin-Sabot, ...

threw the sixth no-hitter in franchise history against the Milwaukee Brewers: On August 22, 2021, when Tigers outfielder

Miguel Cabrera José Miguel Cabrera Torres (born April 18, 1983), nicknamed "Miggy", is a Venezuelan professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Since his debut in 2003 he has been a two-t ...

hit his 500th career home run:

Personal life

Dickerson lives in

Clarkston, Michigan Clarkston is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. A northern suburb of Detroit, located about northwest of downtown Detroit, Clarkston is surrounded by Independence Township, but administered independently since its incorporation i ...

with his wife Lori Anne, a journalism professor at Michigan State University, and their children Rachel and Justin. Dickerson tripped on a curb while

jogging Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase physical fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running but more than walking, or to maintain a steady speed for longer periods ...

outside the Detroit Tigers team hotel in Kansas City, Missouri on May 26, 2009, forcing him to return to Michigan for surgery and miss six games. John Keating filled in for the remainder of the Kansas City series, and

Al Kaline Albert William Kaline ( ; December 19, 1934 – April 6, 2020), nicknamed "Mr. Tiger", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers. For most of his career, Kali ...

substituted for the Baltimore series. Dickerson returned to work on June 2.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickerson, Dan 1958 births Living people American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers College hockey announcers in the United States Cranbrook Educational Community alumni Detroit Tigers announcers High school basketball announcers in the United States High school football announcers in the United States Major League Baseball broadcasters Michigan Wolverines football announcers Ohio Wesleyan University alumni People from Birmingham, Michigan People from Clarkston, Michigan