Detroit Tigers fans were stunned to learn during spring training that legendary former outfielder and longtime television broadcaster Kirk Gibson would not be returning to the booth this season.
After initially announcing in February that Gibson would be part of their television broadcast team on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit in 2025 – as he had been in each of the previous 15 seasons – the Tigers announced just a few weeks later that he would instead be stepping away. Although Gibson would still remain with the organization in a special advisor role to the front office, the timing and abrupt nature of the announcement raised plenty of questions about his time on the broadcast team.