Edwin Lloyd TYSON [332]

   Cause of his death was Arterial Ailment.

   Other names for Edwin were Edwin L. TYSON and Ty TYSON.

   FamilySearch ID: LXSK-TKR. Find a Grave ID: 145317292.

  General Notes:

Ty Tyson, 1924-50 wsa a radio announcer for the Detroit Tigers and the University of Michigan Football Team. In 1924 he made the first live broadcast of a UofM football game from the stands of Ferry Field. A few years later, in 1927, he made the first broadcast of a Detroit Tigers game.

On April 19, 1927, Ty Tyson was first heard broadcasting a Detroit Tiger's game throughout the Motor City. Tiger owner Frank Navin agreed to allow Tyson to broadcast games live even though he feared it would hurt the team at the gate. Instead, the exact opposite happened as Tyson's broadcasts sparked added interest in the team.
Edwin "Ty" Tyson hailed from Tyron, Pennsylvania and attended Penn State University. After serving in World War I, a childhood friend got him a job announcing weather, introducing bands, and reading news on station WWJ in Detroit.
Tyson was renowned as a baseball broadcaster for his faithful reporting, dry humor, and knowledge of the game. Bob Latshaw remembered in a 1966 Detroit Free Press story, "by the late 1920s and early 1930s, there wasn't an afternoon the Tigers played that anyone could escape hearing Tyson. It was possible for a youngster to leave school, walk a mile home, and never miss a pitch, because every house…had its radio tuned to WWJ."
When Kenesaw M. Landis announced Tyson would not be allowed to announce the 1934 World Series due to partiality to his hometown Tigers, 600,000 fans petitioned the Commissioner to get Tyson on the air. Landis relented and allowed him to announce locally on WWJ.
Tyson's local broadcasting rival was former ballplayer Harry Heilmann, who broadcast on WXYZ. They competed from 1934 through Tyson's retirement after the 1942 season. In 1951, when Heilmann was forced to retire due to illness, Tyson came back to work for his ailing pal.
Ford Frick Award winner Ernie Harwell paid tribute to Tyson by bringing him on the air one more time in 1965 to call an inning of his beloved Tigers. Harwell later described the event as one of his most popular broadcasts.
The earliest recording of a regular season game that survives today features Tyson calling the Tigers vs. the New York Yankees on September 20, 1934.
Tyson died December 12, 1968.
The Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association has an award named in Tyson's honor.

  Burial Notes:

Middle Section, near the back

  Noted events in his life were:

1. He worked as a manager of WWJ Radio Station in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States. "He (Ty Tyson) had made his success by being a sportscaster. And the Tigers were a great baseball team that he covered and he was known, well-known all around the whole area as the sportsman. But they made him the manager of the station, the station was owned by the Detroit News. And when they started the station, it was to be an advertising adjunct. And the reason that they started it was because one of the men who owned the Detroit News, a Mr. Scripps, decided that-well, he liked things, he liked to monkey with things, and he thought radio was really something interesting. And the decision was made in cooperation with the News advertising department that the broadcast power would be limited to the News' circulation area. And to this day, it is still limited. So that WWJ cannot reach more than five thousand watts, and all of the rest of the competition was ten thousand, fifty thousand, and all that sort of thing. So it's all a rather select little group that can listen to WWJ. But of course, it was the pioneer and eventually the advertising people recognized that this was of value and maybe they'd sell a little time too, you know, so that worked out."

--- Fran Harris Interview #1, (pp. 1-37), September 29, 1990, Westland, Michigan, Washington Press Club Foundation <wpcfhome.htm>, Anne Ritchie <arbio.htm>, Interviewer

2. In 1910 he resided at Ward 2 in Tyrone, Blair, Pennsylvania, United States. ⁴⁰¹

3. In 1920 he resided at Ward 2 in Tyrone, Blair, Pennsylvania, United States. ⁴⁰¹

4. He worked as a broadcaster on 25 October 1924 in Ann Arbor, Washtenaw, Michigan, United States. Tyson broadcast the first play-by-play sports broadcast from the scene by WWJ radio when he described the University of Michigan-University of Wisconsin football game.

5. He worked as a began radio broadcasts of Detroit Tigers games on station WWJ on 20 April 1927 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States. He made the first radio broadcast of a regular season Detroit Tiger game, an 8-5 win over the Cleveland Indians. He went on to broadcast Detroit Tiger baseball seasons from 1927-1942 and 1951-1952.

6. He appeared on the 1930 United States census on 16 April 1930 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States. This event was shared with Catherine M. LUKENBACH [2092] and Virginia L. TYSON [2093].

7. On 16 April 1930 he resided at 558 Marlborough Lane, Detroit, Michigan in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States. This event was shared with Catherine M. LUKENBACH [2092] and Virginia L. TYSON [2093].

8. In 1935 he had a residence in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States. ⁴⁰¹

9. He appeared on the 1940 United States census on 13 April 1940 in Grosse Pointe, Wayne, Michigan, United States. This event was shared with Catherine M. LUKENBACH [2092], Virginia L. TYSON [2093], and William R. TYSON [331].

10. On 13 April 1940 he resided at 815 Grand Marais in Grosse Pointe Park, Wayne, Michigan, United States. ⁴⁰¹ This event was shared with Catherine M. LUKENBACH [2092], Virginia L. TYSON [2093], and William R. TYSON [331].

11. Draft Registration: WWII, 27 April 1942, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States.

12. He worked as a broadcaster on 3 June 1947 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States. Ty called the first telecasted Tigers game in Detroit on WWJ TV. Tigers lost to Yankees 3-0, Spec Shea was the winning pitcher while Hal Newhouser took the loss.

13. He was honored with Michigan Sports Hall of Fame induction on 15 May 1996 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States. Inscription:

Edwin "Ty" Tyson

Edwin "Ty" Tyson made history by doing the first play-by-play coverage of a sports event by broadcasting the University of Michigan-Wisconsin football game from Ferry Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1924. He broadcast Tiger baseball games from 1927 through 1942. He returned to the airways in 1947 to cover the first telecast for a Tiger team in '47. Ty also did U of M football games. He was a great announcer, very articulate and had a great wit. He was extremely popular and a true gentleman who was loved by all Detroit fans. Inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.

(Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, 1 Washington Blvd, Cobo Center, Detroit, Michigan 48226, United States.)

Edwin married Catherine M. LUKENBACH [2092] [MRIN: 166], daughter of Frank Kreamer LUKENBACH [4797] and Catherine Whiteman BULLOCK [4798], in 1923. (Catherine M. LUKENBACH [2092] was born in 1895 in , , Pennsylvania, United States, died in 1993 and was buried in 1993 in Tyrone, Blair, Pennsylvania, United States.)