Former Detroit Tigers catcher Jim Price, who was a radio analyst and color commentator for much of the last 30 years for the team, died on Monday.
He was 81.
Price, born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was the backup catcher to All-Star Bill Freehan from 1967-71. He played 64 games in 1968, when the Tigers won the World Series over the St. Louis Cardinals. In 261 MLB games, all with the Tigers, Price hit .214 with 18 home runs, 71 RBIs, 62 walks and 70 strikeouts.
“It’s really sad news,” Miguel Cabrera, who has played for the Tigers since 2008, said before Tuesday’s game in the clubhouse. “My condolences to his family. This is a really hard moment.”
After Price’s playing career, he shifted to broadcasting.
Price became the Tigers’ play-by-play broadcaster for games on Pro-Am Sports System (PASS) in 1993 and shifted to the radio booth in 1998. He called games alongside Frank Beckmann, Ernie Harwell and Dan Dickerson.
“All of us with the Detroit Tigers are deeply saddened to learn of Jim Price’s passing,” Tigers chairman and CEO Christopher Ilitch said Tuesday 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. Those are among the many reasons Jim was one of my mother and father’s favorite people, and they had such a strong relationship for many years. The thoughts of my family, and everyone across baseball, are with Jim’s wife, Lisa, and the entire Price family.”
Former Tigers teammate Mickey Lolich remembers Price as a “good teammate and never caused any problems with other guys.”
“I always had my catcher with his right shin guard six or seven inches off the plate because that was my target for my tailing fastball. Whenever I saw him, and the last time was when he and his wife visited me in the hospital a few months ago he would say, “right shin guard off the plate” with a smile on his face,” Lolich said.
Price’s on-air style featured quips like “the art of pitching,” describing nasty curveballs as “yellowhammers” and declaring any city in Michigan as a “nice area.” He also worked “buggywhip,” “qualify the speed of the runner” and “cut the pie” into his calls on the radio broadcast.
Dickerson explained the origins of the famous “yellowhammer” word.
“Jim said it came from teammate Pat Dobson and was named after a bird,” Dickerson said in a statement Friday. “So one day, we looked it — and sure enough, a Yellowhammer is a bird that is known for its ability to sharply dart down and away, just like a good curveball. We both got such a kick out of discovering that, and it always added to the moment whenever Jim would break it out – and then we could share a laugh, knowing the history behind the word.
“These folksy ‘Jim-isms’ were what made him such a fan favorite. … Every time I see a good curveball, I can’t help but think of Jim. I’m sure he won’t mind if I break out the occasional Yellowhammer when I do. He will be missed.”
In the last few years, Price did not travel with the Tigers for many road games due to his declining health.
This year, the Tigers enlisted several other broadcasters to join Dickerson — the longtime play-by-play announcer — for road games, including former Tiger Cameron Maybin and ex-MLB player and scout Bobby Scales. For much of this season, when Price was unable to call games at Comerica Park due to health issues, ex-Tiger Andy Dirks filled in.
“What a sad day it is to learn about Jim Price,” A.J. Hinch, who has been the Tigers’ manager since the 2021 season, said before Tuesday’s game in the dugout. “He’s given almost all of his adult life to the Tigers, either as a player or as a broadcaster. He’s done so much for the organization and throughout the game.”
Price was a leading force in starting the non-profit Jack’s Place for Autism, named after his son, Jackson. Price also was instrumental in the Tigers’ fantasy camps in Lakeland over the years.
Jerry Lewis, who co-founded the Tigers fantasy camps with Price in 1984, remembers his friend of 55 years as a brother to him.
“There wouldn’t have been a Tiger Fantasy Camp with me if it wasn’t for Jim Price because he convinced (then-Tigers general manager) Jim Campbell to allow us to do it,” Lewis said. “Jim had a certain charm about him and he loved the campers and thrived in that environment. Jim meant so much to me in my life and I’m really going to miss him. I was blessed to have that friendship for so long.”
He worked as a sports reporter and anchor for WJBK-TV (Channel 2) after his playing career. He also worked in the Tigers’ front office during the 1980s and 90s, including as community relations director.
Price worked for ESPN in the early 1980s, too.
“This is an incredibly sad day for the Tigers family,” Willie Horton, a fellow member of the 1968 championship team and a current special assistant, said in a statement Tuesday. “Jimmy was one of a kind, and one of the best ambassadors for the organization since he retired as a player. He was an incredible teammate and friend to so many, and his impact will never be forgotten. My thoughts are with Lisa and all of Jim’s family.”
Price was tabbed as the new play-by-play announcer for the Tigers’ telecast on PASS cable in 1993, and two years later he moved over to analyst chair to make way for Harwell as the play-by-play announcer on television.
He joined the radio crew in June 1998, midway through the season, and teamed up with Beckmann.
He rejoined Harwell on the radio broadcast from 1999-2002.
In 2000, Dickerson began calling the middle three innings, and when Harwell retired after the 2002 season, Dickerson and Price were the Tigers’ primary radio broadcasters from 2003 until this season.
Price called his final game on the radio July 9, 2023.
“This is such sad news,” Dickerson said. “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 me get through that first season, which made what happened three years later all the sweeter.”
Free Press special writer Bill Dow contributed to this report. Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.