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Jimmie William Price
Detroit Tigers
Catcher
Born: October 13, 1941, Harrisburg, PA
Signed: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent before 1960 season
Major League Teams: Detroit Tigers 1967-71
World Series Appearances: Detroit Tigers 1968
Died: August 7, 2023, Washington, MI (age 81)
Jim Price played in parts of five seasons as a back-up catcher for the Tigers, before joining the team's broadcast booth for nearly 30 years. Originally signed by the Pirates, Price moved steadily through Pittsburgh's minor league chain, earning Pirates Minor League Player of the Year honors in 1963. After seven seasons in the minors, and facing yet another year hoping for the Pirates to give him a chance, Price requested a trade and was sold to the Tigers in April 1967. As Bill Freehan's (#390) back-up, he played sparingly, but he'd never return to the minors again. Price was a member of the Tigers team that defeated the Cardinals in seven games in the 1968 World Series. For his career, he batted .214 in 261 games, with 18 home runs and 71 RBIs.
Price began his broadcasting career shortly after his playing career ended. He was the announcer for the first live sports event broadcast on ESPN in 1979, the APSPL World Series for Professional Softball. He joined the Tigers' broadcast booth in 1993, where he'd work until a month before his passing in August 2023.
Died: August 7, 2023, Washington, MI (age 81)
Jim Price played in parts of five seasons as a back-up catcher for the Tigers, before joining the team's broadcast booth for nearly 30 years. Originally signed by the Pirates, Price moved steadily through Pittsburgh's minor league chain, earning Pirates Minor League Player of the Year honors in 1963. After seven seasons in the minors, and facing yet another year hoping for the Pirates to give him a chance, Price requested a trade and was sold to the Tigers in April 1967. As Bill Freehan's (#390) back-up, he played sparingly, but he'd never return to the minors again. Price was a member of the Tigers team that defeated the Cardinals in seven games in the 1968 World Series. For his career, he batted .214 in 261 games, with 18 home runs and 71 RBIs.
Price began his broadcasting career shortly after his playing career ended. He was the announcer for the first live sports event broadcast on ESPN in 1979, the APSPL World Series for Professional Softball. He joined the Tigers' broadcast booth in 1993, where he'd work until a month before his passing in August 2023.
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times. I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.
Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders. I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500. This card was the 124th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost a little less than a dollar.
The Card / Tigers Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Price is shown posing at Yankee Stadium, with a teammate wearing #26 making a cameo appearance behind him. Gates Brown (#256) wore that number with the Tigers between 1963 and 1975, and the player walking behind Price would seem to have much lighter skin than Brown. So maybe it's a #28? If so, that's either Mike Marshall (#17) or Orlando Pena, who both wore the number between 1965 and 1967. Or . . . maybe it's a Yankees player? Price's 1968 Topps card features a similar cameo, this time from someone wearing #22.
The back of the card refers to his game-winning, pinch-hit home run hit against the White Sox and Wilbur Wood (#123) on August 21, 1968. Price's home run gave the Tigers a 3-2 win. He's also referred to as both "Jim" and "Jimmie" on the back of the card.
Accuracy Index: Price's card earns a +5.
1969 Season
Statistically his best season in the majors, Price batted .234 in 72 games for the Tigers, with nine home runs and 28 RBIs. Both power numbers were career bests. He made 49 starts behind the plate to the 113 starts made by All-Star catcher Freehan.
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First Mainstream Card: 1967 Topps #123
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5): 1967-71
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs (High Number) #ROA-JP
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 23 in the Beckett online database as of 11/26/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
#471 Ted Savage - Los Angeles Dodgers / #473 Jose Arcia - San Diego Padres
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