Detroit Tigers Legend Jim Price Has Passed Away
We live in the age of trade and free agency. The idea of someone being a baseball life is a dying notion. There was a time when Tigers fans thought that Justin Verlander would be a Tigers lifer, but we have sadly been proven wrong many times. It makes the existence of Jim Price that much more impressive. Jim Price, through and through, was a Detroit Tiger, and today we mourn his loss. Price only played five years in professional baseball, all with the Detroit Tigers starting in 1967. While he didn't play long, he was a part of some huge moments for the Tigers. He caught 64 games during the Tigers' 1968 World Championship campaign. He was behind the plate for part of Denny McLain's 30-win season that year. That's something we're never going to see again. Despite his final season in Major League Baseball coming in 1971, Jim Price stayed close to the Detroit Tigers organization. He played in the American Professional Slow Pitch Softball League, which I did not know was a thing. He played for a team called the Detroit Caesars, which just happened to be owned one Mike Ilitch, who would go on to be the owner of the Detroit Tigers for a long time.
Price found his way back as a member of the Detroit Tigers organization as a broadcaster in 1993. He worked aside the great Ernie Harwell from 1999 to 2002 before becoming the color commentator with Dan Dickerson in 2003. It is unique the kind of impact that baseball broadcasters have on baseball fans. It's unlike any other sport. You play 162 games a year and genuinely feel like you get to know these people. And Jim Price was a Detroit Tigers institution.
All Tigers fans will remember the catchphrases. We'll not forget Jim Price referring to Miguel Cabrera as "The Big Man," or constantly talking about places in Michigan and referring to them as a "Nice area," or his consistent use of the term "Buggywhip." You don't realize it at the time, but those little moments impact you. As brilliant as Dan Dickerson is doing play-by-play for the Tigers on the radio, in the back of my head, a part of me misses hearing those catchphrases from the color commentator.
So much discussion will rightfully be had about Jim Price's impact on the Tigers organization. He was a World Champion player and was also responsible for being in the broadcast booth during the golden age of Tiger baseball. I did not know Price had a son named Jackson, who has autism. The two of them were responsible for the formation of Jack's Place for Autism, which is a nonprofit organization designed to assist families affected by the disability. It's only customary for people to feel sad when they hear about somebody's passing, but I don't think it would've been possible for Jim Price to have left a more significant legacy, not just on baseball, but in the hearts of people that knew him. I look forward to him and Ernie Harwell calling games in heaven. 
For more information about Jack's place, you can check out their website down below
