Jim Price Dies: Former Detroit Tigers Baseball Player & Radio Announcer Was 81

Jim Price, a former Detroit Tigers catcher who would go on to be the voice broadcasting the baseball games, died August 7. He was 81.

“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.”

Ilitch continued, “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.”

Price was born on October 13, 1941, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He played for the Detroit Tigers between 1967 and 1971 playing in 1968 when the team won the World Series over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Following his time with the Tigers, Price would go on to play professional softball with the Detroit Caesars in 1979. Shortly after, Price would appear in ESPN’s first-ever live sports broadcast giving color commentary. This appearance led the former baseball player to a career in broadcasting. It was in 1993 when Price started covering the Detroit Tigers and moved to the team’s radio network in 1998 giving personal and valuable insight from his time as a catcher. He would be at the broadcast booth up until a month before he died.

“This is such sad news,” Price’s longtime broadcast partner Dan 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 get me through that first season, which made what happened three years later all the sweeter.”

Price was inducted into the Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995.