Jim Price (catcher)

Jimmie William Price (October 13, 1941 – August 7, 2023) was an American professional baseball catcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers from 1967 to 1971. He was also the color commentator for the Detroit Tigers Radio Network and PASS for nearly 30 years.

Price was born on October 13, 1941, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Hershey High School in Hershey, Pennsylvania, in 1960. He was a three-sport star at Hershey and Joe Paterno tried to recruit Price to play college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions.

After he graduated, Price signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball, receiving a $15,000 signing bonus. In 1963, he hit 19 home runs while batting .311 for the Kinston Eagles of the Single-A Carolina League. For his efforts, he was named the Pirates Minor League Player of the Year. He spent the 1965 and 1966 seasons with the Columbus Jets.

When the Pirates opted to send Price back to the minor leagues at the start of the 1967 season, he requested a trade. The Pirates sold Price to the Detroit Tigers for cash considerations. He made his MLB debut with the Tigers and he hit .261 in 44 games. Price played as the backup catcher to starter Bill Freehan. With the 1968 Tigers, Price won the World Series over the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.

After the 1971 season, the Tigers demoted Price to the Toledo Mud Hens. Rather than report to Toledo, Price retired from baseball, and publicly called for MLB to reform the reserve clause.

Price played in the 1979 season for the Detroit Caesars in the American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL), with the team finishing with a 40–24 (.625) record, losing in the playoff semi-finals to the eventual World Series champions Milwaukee Schlitz.

The Caesars played at Memorial Field in Eastpointe, Michigan, a small suburb of Detroit between 1977 and 1979, were owned by eventual Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch, and featured several former Detroit Tigers such as Price, Jim Northrup, Mickey Stanley, and Norm Cash, largely in promotional roles. The Caesars disbanded at the end of the 1979 season.

Price began his broadcasting career after retiring from baseball, working in local television in the Detroit area and for the fledgling ESPN, serving as an announcer for the first live sports broadcast on the network, the APSPL World Series for professional softball in 1979.