As someone who has been called “Tiger” since his freshman year at the old Mackenzie High School on Detroit’s west side, being a Comerica Park Guest Services staff member for Detroit Tigers home games appeared to be a dream job for Mike “Tiger" Price.
And from 2001 until 2019, a timespan during which the Tigers appeared in the postseason five times — including four consecutive appearances beginning in 2011 — Price was totally in his element.
“Working for Guest Services at the ballpark gave me an opportunity to experience sports from a new angle,” explained Price, who, after graduating as class president of Mackenzie’s January 1970 class, headed to Eastern Michigan University where he covered EMU’s outstanding baseball team for WEMU. Price would later co-host the “TV-6 Sportstalk” program for Detroit’s Barden Cablevision from 1988 until 1998, which allowed him to cover his beloved Tigers often.
“The goal for Guest Services is to always make sure the fans being served are having the best time possible,” Price said. “And I was also close to the game, so it was a whole lot of fun.”
But for Price, who earned his nickname on a baseball diamond at Mackenzie, the fun abruptly ended before the start of the 2020 Major League Baseball season.
“That COVID (COVID-19 pandemic) was nothing to play with,” the 72-year-old Price said Tuesday afternoon as he succinctly explained why he stepped away from work and an environment that brought him so much joy.
The COVID-19 pandemic was the reason that Price stopped working Guest Services at both Tigers and Lions home games. But, he confessed Tuesday, that the extra time that he gained for “living, loving, laughing and learning” with his beautiful wife, Ardith Arnellé Price, has helped to temper his longing for his Comerica Park days.
Still, the excitement of the Tigers’ first playoff home game in 10 years is not lost on Price, who let his passion spill out while talking about the way the 2024 edition of the Tigers approach each game.
“I really like this team because our manager is into matchups, and for me that’s baseball,” said Price, who says he will be bouncing between TVs in his kitchen and the “man cave” at his Detroit home in the Belle Isle area — about 3 miles east of Comerica Park — during the time the Tigers are hosting the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday afternoon. “A.J. Hinch, in many ways, has out-thought the other managers we have faced this season and in the opening playoff series against Houston. It takes a special kind of guy to do that.
“Combine a team that is coached well with a never-say-die attitude, along with the right guys in place, and I don’t care who is on the mound for the other team. It can be an ace closer like the Cleveland Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase and we have players like clutch (Kerry) Carpenter who can come through.”
Price did not offer up a prediction for the Tigers’ five-game series against Cleveland, which is tied at one game apiece going into Wednesday’s Game 3. However, he said, he already knows one team that will shine for sure when Comerica Park hosts its first playoff game in a decade: That would be the Guest Services team.
“Providing a once-in-a-lifetime experience for anyone coming to the ballpark is what Guest Services is all about,” said Price, who earlier explained some of the ways he attempted to make game days extra special for fans at Comerica Park, including providing some of the “coldest cups of water that could be found in Michigan” with help from a Little Caesars vendor, and using different colored markers to create certificates that were presented to fans to recognize special occasions and occurrences at the ballpark. “At every game, I gave out certificates and most assuredly you can believe that every action performed by a Guest Services team member on Wednesday afternoon will reflect the experience and passion of team members that taught them.
“Working as one team to do their best, everything will be done as graciously and as thoughtfully as it possibly can be done for our great fans.”
Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and a lifelong lover of Detroit culture in its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott's stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/ . Please help us grow great community-focused journalism by becoming a subscriber .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: This 'Tiger' will be cheering for 2 hometown 'teams' during Game 3 at Comerica Park
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