Jim Price, a backup catcher on the Detroit Tigers’ 1968 World Series champions who served for 31 years as the team’s radio and television broadcasting voice, died Monday. He was 81.
The Tigers announced Price’s death on Tuesday.
He had been battling cancer since 2008 but remained in the broadcast booth for the next decade without missing a game, The Detroit News reported. He stopped traveling with the team in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the nation.
He worked his last game for the Tigers on July 9, calling Detroit’s home game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Comerica Park, according to the newspaper. One day earlier, he called the Tigers’ first combined no-hitter in franchise history.
After his playing career, Price called games with Frank Beckmann, Ernie Harwell and Dan Dickerson, WWJ-TV reported.
“This is such sad news,” Dickerson said in a release. “Jim and I were together for 24 seasons, and experienced both ends of the spectrum with our beloved Tigers -- from a tough season in the first year after Ernie retired, to two trips to the World Series. Jim helped get me through that first season, which made what happened three years later all the sweeter.”
“All of us with the Detroit Tigers are deeply saddened to learn of Jim Price’s passing,” Tigers chairman and CEO Chris Ilitch said in a statement. “Jim was a champion on the field, in the broadcast booth, and throughout the community. That Jim was with the organization for much of his life, doing what he loved, is such a powerful sign of his dedication and loyalty to the Tigers and the city of Detroit.”
Price, who was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was the backup catcher to All-Star Bill Freehan from 1967 to 1971, according to the Detroit Free Press. He played 64 games in 1968, when the Tigers won the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. In 261 major league games, all with the Tigers, Price hit .214 with 18 home runs, 71 RBI, 62 walks and 70 strikeouts, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
Price was originally signed out of Hershey High School by Pittsburgh and spent seven seasons (1960 to 1966) in the Pirates’ organization before the Tigers bought his rights.
“It’s really sad news,” Miguel Cabrera, who has played for the Tigers since 2008, told the Free Press before the Tigers’ game on Tuesday at home against Minnesota. “My condolences to his family. This is a really hard moment.”