WJR – Motor City Radio Flashbacks

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, ON THIS DAY: THE FINAL GAME. A GRAND TIGER STADIUM FAREWELL, SEPTEMBER 27, 1999

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DETROIT FREE PRESS Tuesday, September 28, 1999 — The Corner rocked.

Music blared everywhere. So many flashbulbs were popping at times Monday that it seemed as if the Beatles were taking the stage. Strangers talked baseball to strangers.

On the final day at Tiger Stadium, fans staged a festive wake for the old ballpark that featured heavy nostalgia, 65 old-time players and a rooftop grand slam.

The daylong celebration concluded with an emotional ceremony in which groundskeeper Charlie McGee dug up home plate with a pickaxe and took the precious cargo in a motorcade across downtown to the new Comerica Park.

Moments later, a cast of former Tigers took their old positions to loud applause and participated in a ceremonial lowering of the stadium flag.

The evening ended with many of the 43,356 fans standing at their seats, piano music playing over the public address system and the lights slowly going dark for the final time. As some fans daubed tears from their eyes and other beamed wide smiles, beloved announcer Ernie Harwell bid farewell to one of the most historic piece of baseball real estate in America.

“Tonight, we must say goodbye,” Harwell said, “So long old friend. We will remember.”

Cheers for players, stadium

The game highlight was Robert Fick’s based-loaded home run that slammed into the roof in right-field and bounced back into the field. The blast iced the game for the Tigers, and Fick, hardly a household name in the game, was signing autographs well into the night.

After the game, fans grew hoarse cheering for the former Tigers who entered the field from centerfield for the closing ceremony as music from “Braveheart” played. First to appear was Mark “The Bird” Fidrych, the sensation of the mid-1970s who ran to the pitcher’s mound and scooped dirt into a plastic bag.

Players who received some of the loudest cheers were hometown favorites Willie Horton, Kirk Gibson and Ron LeFlore. Fans also screamed for Alan Trammel and Lou Whittaker, Gates Brown and Al Kaline. Some fans seemed stunned to see some long-forgotten heroes as Jim Bunning, Eddie Yost and Charlie (Paw Paw) Maxwell.

“Awesome, just awesome,” gushed Richard Coriaty, 36, a former Detroiter who traveled from Fontana, Calif. for the game.

Coriaty swept his hand toward the field, where the players assembled, dressed in the plain white uniforms with the old English D on their chest. “You know, of all the . . . things that have happened in this city, the one thing we all have in common is those guys out there.”

And the old building that became our field of dreams.

[Note: See Detroit Free Press article below for more. Click over images with mouse, or tap on and stretch article (and all photos and box scores) across your mobile device screen for larger detailed view].

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Jim Price, a former catcher for the Detroit Tigers and a key member of their 1968 championship team, passed away at the age of 81. The Tigers announced his death on Tuesday, August 8, 2023, but no cause was provided.

Price played with the Tigers from 1967 to 1971, primarily as a backup to All-Star catcher Bill Freehan. Over the course of 261 games, he recorded a batting average of .214, with 18 home runs and 71 RBIs, contributing to the team’s 1968 World Series victory.

In 1998, Price began his broadcasting career as a radio analyst for the Tigers, later expanding to their television coverage. Originally from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, he excelled in three sports at Hershey High School before signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1960, opting out of college football scholarship offers.

Alongside his wife, Lisa, Price co-founded a nonprofit organization called Jack’s Place, named after their son, who has autism, aimed at providing support for individuals and families affected by the disorder.

Jim Price partnered with Ernie Harwell in the Tigers broadcasting booth from 1999 to 2002.

Audio digitally remastered by Motor City Radio Flashbacks

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Before the final game at Tiger Stadium, a ceremony took place, hosted by Ernie Harwell, the current Tiger broadcaster and recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award. Owner Mike Ilitch addressed the crowd, joined by Michigan Governor John Engler, Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, and Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig. The event also featured Hall of Famer and longtime Tigers right fielder Al Kaline.

Instead of the usual lineup exchange between managers, both teams designated honorary captains. Al Kaline represented the Tigers, while former MVP and Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett stood for the Royals.

The game concluded at 7:07 PM, after which the grounds crew gathered around home plate. At 7:13 PM, groundskeeper Charlie McGee used a pickaxe to remove home plate, which was then escorted by police and carried to Comerica Park by Tiger pitchers Matt Anderson, Jeff Weaver, and Francisco Cordero.

Ernie Harwell took the stage to recount the history of Tiger Stadium, accompanied by music from *Field of Dreams*. He presented a film featuring legendary Tigers like Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford, Hughie Jennings, and Harry Heilmann, and recognized the Hall of Famers: Heinie Manush, Mickey Cochrane, Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg, Hal Newhouser, and George Kell.

Following speeches from Willie Horton and former manager Sparky Anderson, a group of former players emerged from the center field gate. This included Mark Fidrych, Bill Freehan, Dick McAuliffe, Dave Bergman, Mickey Stanley, Kirk Gibson, Cecil Fielder, Al Kaline, and the duo of Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker, along with Elden Auker. They formed a line from the center field flagpole to home plate, passing the flag that had flown over the stadium during its finale.

After Auker handed the flag to catcher Brad Ausmus, players tossed souvenirs into the stands, while some fans collected dirt from the warning track in plastic bags. At that moment, Harwell delivered his final farewell: “Tonight, we say good-bye… Farewell, old friend Tiger Stadium. We will remember.”

At 8:19 PM, the scoreboard was turned off. A final team photo was taken at 8:45 PM, and by 9 PM, the stands were empty. As the last fans departed, a sign was hung from the iconic right-center field overhang that read: “Today, there is crying in baseball. So long, old friend.”

Audio digitally remastered by Motor City Radio Flashbacks

WJR RADIO 760: PAUL WINTER [Detroit Free Press] DETROIT RADIO BACK-PAGE AD . . . SEPTEMBER 4, 1972

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Originally printed in black and white, the featured Detroit Free Press ad was digitally re-imaged, colorized, and was entirely restored by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.

Missed any of our previous ‘Detroit Radio Back-Pages‘ features? GO HERE

MCRFB Note: Special THANKS to our friend, John Bartony (a.k.a. Jukebox John) St. Clair Shores, Michigan, for providing the above Detroit Free Press WJR 760 ad (September 1972) for this site, as featured today.

A special thank you to senior MCRFB consultant Greg Innis, of Livonia, MI., for contributing the Newspapers.com archives (Detroit radio related) articles, ads, and images we have provide for this site since 2016.

Thank you, Greg Innis, for making these historic Detroit radio features possible. 🙂

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BACK ON THE RADIO: MIKE WHORF’S ‘KALEIDOSCOPE’ ON WJR . . . AUGUST 16, 1974

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NEW! A special THANK YOU to Mark Yurko, of Langhorne, PA., for his WJR aircheck contribution for our Motor City Radio Flashbacks airchecks repository.

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“If the day is slipping away from you by early afternoon, Mike Whorf can stop the clock and recapture the excitement of time–past, present and future. His ‘Kaleidoscope’ will take you on a walk through Caesar’s Rome–whirl you back to Detroit’s bootlegging days or capture the moments of Balboa’s first glimpse of the Pacific. Mike Whorf’s Kaleidoscope is the theater of your mind . . . and now it’s a matinee at 1:15 every day on WJR 760 . . . where we couldn’t leave well enough alone!”

WJR Radio 760 [Detroit Free Press] ad, January 5, 1974

Mike Whorf, passed away on November 10, 2020. He was 88.

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New! Newly restored! This selected audio recording was digitally remastered by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.

WKNR, WJR HITS BIG PAY DIRT . . . . JULY 24, 1965

WKNR, WJR Hitting Pay Dirt in Detroit, Thanks to Two Air Personalities

DETROIT — Two deejays — one in the Top 40 field and the other from a ‘middle-of-the-road’ easy music station, are basically responsible for the tremendous success of radio stations WKNR and WJR here in influencing the sales of records…. and may be largely responsible for the success of their respective radio stations in reaching a large audience.

WJR station manager James H. Quello, said that his good music station was proud of J. P. McCarthy. “He’s the number one radio personality in town. Everybody knows him and he’s in good part responsible… a major factor… in influencing the sale of LP’s in Detroit.”

According to Billboard’s Radio Response Rating Survey last week of the Detroit radio market — ranked the country’s fifth radio market — McCarthy was rated No. 1 in influencing radio listeners to purchase popular LPs. The station was rated first in the same category, but what makes it a unique situation is that the station gained strength to capture the top position since a similar Billboard survey of May 16, 1964, had placed WJR in second-place behind WCAR.

And the reason, according to Quello, is the power of McCarthy. McCarthy had been with the station at one time, then left WJR in Detroit to work for another radio station in San Francisco. He returned back to Detroit since the last Billboard survey. He’s so effective that WJR placed him on mornings in their 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. time-frame, and he returns for the 3:15 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. drive time. “After all, this is the motor city of the world… a big car place,” Quello went on to say. McCarthy features mostly MOR records (middle of the road), Quello said, “but we’re programming more contemporary music now, anything short of rock and roll.”

In influencing the sale of popular LP recordings, the major stations, in order, are WJR, WCAR, WWJ, and WJBK. WJR and WCAR has most of the power; in fact, WJR’s McCarthy had 52 per cent of the total points in Billboard’s survey, followed by WCAR deejay Joe Bacarella with 36 per cent overall.

WJR, incidentally, tied for second-place with WWJ in influencing the sale of conservative type records, was No. 1 in influencing the sale of classical records, and showed up fairly well as a power in influencing the sale of folk records as well.

Both Gain

The top position in the sale of popular record singles was again captured by radio station WKNR and its popular disk-jockey, Bob Green. In fact, both station and deejay gained in strength. WKNR radio was rated at 33 per cent in May 16, 1964, but increased its influence to 44 per cent as of last week. Green increased two points to 30 per cent.

WKNR radio station manager Walter Patterson said the Top 40 station isn’t doing anything different, “but we are fortunate in accumulating listeners.” A recent Pulse study showed that the 24-hour Detroit station as reaching 292,900 separate households during a given day.

“We’re not cocky, but we watch our position closely and never let up,” Patterson said. While the station does believe in strong air-personalities, — “some are and some are not” — it also practices “playing more music and keeping talk to a minimum.” The station’s “sound” is very important,” Patterson said.

WKMH the former, now WKNR, featured a “middle-of-the-road” music format until November 1, 1963, when it went Top 40. “We’ve pulled the fastest turnaround of any station in the country,” Patterson said. “What’s happening is the more we go, the more we get.” The station plays the top 31 records and distributes 99,000 copies of the station’s own survey guide of featured songs and hits. Patterson also said the station has a “refrigerator full” of promotions and uses them as the need arises.

Also in the Top 40 market, radio station CKLW has increased its power in influencing the sales of records since the last Billboard survey. The market saw WJBK change format from Top 40, where it ranked No. 2 last May, to good music. In May 1964, it was No. 4; now it ranks second. Dave Shafer and Tom Shannon of CKLW now rank second and third behind WKNR’s Bob Green.

John Gordon, the program director of CKLW, received the Billboard nod as most co-operative in exposing new records.

Close in R&B Field

In the R&B field in the Detroit market, it was a close race, but WCHB radio came out on top in influencing record sales. WCHB had 49 per cent, WJLB had 44 per cent and FM station WGPR had 7 per cent. WJLB ranked first last May.

Bill Williams, program director at WCHB, attributed the station’s increase in influence to a “much tighter format that was launched in January.” The station also went 24-hours in April. Williams said deejays on WCHB are now faster with delivery than before. “We play 35 of the top-selling R&B records, interspersed with every third record with one we think is a good prospect for a potential hit-maker to climb-up the chart.” This has made the station very important in getting listeners to go out and buy more into the R&B product,” Williams said.

“This is a good R&B market, its the home of the Motown sound,” he said, adding that he liked to think of his market as the entire population of Detroit. WJLB, however, scored with the top disc-jockey — Ernie Durham — in the power of influencing record sales. In fact, Durham almost captured the whole thing with a 44 per cent influence in the Detroit R&B market. The second-place honors goes out to Le Baron Taylor of WCHB, who held the No. 2 spot at 27 per cent.

Interesting to note is that an FM station, WBRB-FM is now showing muscles in influencing the sales of country music records. The field is still dominated by country powerhouse WEXL, which still came up with 86 per cent of the total points, but it’s no longer a one-station field. WBRB showed up with a 14 per cent; it’s a new station since the last Billboard survey. Bill Samples, of WEXL, is still the No. 1 deejay in the motor town getting country music records sold. END

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Source information and credit: Billboard July 24, 1965

THE VOICE OF SUMMER REMEMBERED: ERNIE HARWELL and PAUL CAREY on WJR, MAY 24, 1977

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DETROIT FREE PRESS Wednesday, May 25, 1977 — Believe it or not, one of the reasons Ralph Houk temporarily turned John Hiller into a starting pitcher was to try to build the veteran’s confidence back up.

If nothing else, the Tiger’s accomplished that much Tuesday night at Tiger Stadium.

Although Hiller was no match for California’s record-setting Nolan Ryan, he certainly had nothing to be ashamed of as the Angels stopped the Tiger’s three-game winning streak, 2-1.

**Angels 2-Tigers 1** *(Click on box score for largest detailed view)*.

Ryan was his customary over-powering self, permitting three singles and striking out 12 to set an American League record for such feats. It marked the 75th time since joining the Angels in 1972, that Ryan had struck out 10 or more batters in a ball game.

THE ANGELS’ fireballing right-hander has enjoyed 89 such games in his major-league career, dating back to his days with the New York Mets, which leaves him just 8 shy of the major league record, held by Sandy Koufax.

But let the record show, John Hiller struck out five himself while only allowing five hits in his most impressing nine-inning effort against the Angels.

[See Detroit Free Press article below for more. Click on, tap or stretch article for larger detailed read].

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WJR served as the flagship station for the Detroit Tigers Radio Network, with Paul Carey producing broadcasts for the network from 1964 to 1971.

When Ray Lane transitioned to television, Carey teamed up with Ernie Harwell as a play-by-play announcer for the 1973 season, a role he held for 19 seasons. Except for his last three seasons, he also took on engineering duties for the broadcasts.

In early 1991, Carey announced his retirement at the end of the season, with his final Tigers broadcast taking place on the last day of the 1991 season—marking the final baseball game at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. In 2012, Carey was honored as the third recipient of the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association’s Harwell Lifetime Contribution Award, following Harwell and John Fountain.

Carey passed away on April 12, 2016, in Rochester, Michigan, due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at the age of 88.

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BASEBALL REFERENCE: For the complete California Angels vs Detroit Tigers May 24, 1977 game-day box score and stats — click HERE

**THE VOICE OF THE DETROIT TIGERS** Ernie Harwell with Paul Carey.

BROADCASTING! DETROIT WJR RADIO AD: JUNE 5, 1967

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The above Broadcasting June 1967 WJR ad was digitally re-imaged and was entirely restored by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.

BROADCASTING! DETROIT WJR RADIO AD: JULY 10, 1967

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The above Broadcasting July 1967 WJR ad was digitally re-imaged and was entirely restored by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.

J. P. McCARTHY: SPOTLIGHTING HIS WJR SHOW THEME! ‘BEGIN THE BEGUINE” [1938] by the ARTIE SHAW ORCHESTRA

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Joseph Preistly McCarthy entered the world in New York City on March 22, 1933. In 1943, amid wartime, his family relocated to Detroit, where McCarthy attended Annunciation grade school and later DeLasalle near City Airport for high school. He pursued higher education at the University of Detroit starting in 1952.

At 19, McCarthy enlisted in the U.S. Army and found himself stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska. Despite lacking radio training, he secured a role at Armed Forces Radio to avoid relocation. After military service, McCarthy explored radio opportunities in Fairbanks and later on in Flint, where he briefly embraced the role of a “rock and roll” disk jockey, spinning hits by Elvis, Bill Haley, and the Everly Brothers.

Transitioning to WJR in Detroit in 1958, McCarthy’s career trajectory led him to KGO in San Francisco briefly in early 1963, before returning to WJR in December 1964. Back at WJR, he took on hosting duties for the “Morning Music Hall” and the “Afternoon Music Hall” initially, later becoming a permanent fixture in the morning drive and launching the “Focus” afternoon interview program.

His morning show swiftly ascended to the apex of Detroit radio, maintaining its dominance for roughly three decades until his passing. Acknowledged as Detroit’s preeminent radio personality, McCarthy was crowned “Top DJ” by Billboard in July 1966. In the late spring of 1995, McCarthy received a diagnosis of ‘myelodysplastic syndrome,’ a precursor to leukemia, and peacefully passed away in his sleep on August 16, 1995, surrounded by his loving family, at the age of 62.

Today we are presenting J. P. McCarthy’s WJR show-opening theme, his first. From 1938 – BEGIN THE BEGUINE – by the Artie Shaw Orchestra.

A MCRFB Note: J.P. ultimately would use two other “themes” for his morning show on WJR as well. “Put On A Happy Face” by Bert Kaempfert, and, “Have A Nice Day” by the Count Basie Orchestra.

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Audio digitally remastered by Motor City Radio Flashbacks

WJR [Detroit Free Press] RADIO PRESS PHOTO: BOB REYNOLDS

NEW: ST. PATRICK’S DAY! J. P. McCARTHY ON WJR 760 RADIO, MARCH 17, 1993

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For over 30 years, legendary morning radio personality Joseph Priestley McCarthy broadcast his #1 rated show on WJR-760 in Detroit. “J.P.” regularly interviewed heads of states, world leaders, government officials, corporate figures, champions of sports, entertainment luminaries, and dedicated listeners, highlighting his storied broadcasting career in the Motor City.

One day short of 51 months having passed after this broadcast first aired, J.P. passed away on August 16, 1995.

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NEW! A special THANK YOU to our friend, Jim Nuznoff, of Port Charlotte, Florida, for this recent contribution to our Motor City Radio Flashbacks airchecks repository. Thanks again, Jim, we are grateful for your generosity and your support for this site, always.

Jim writes (January 9, 2024) — “March 17, 1993. J. P. McCarthy Show featuring a remote broadcast on St. Patrick’s Day, live, from the Pegasus Restaurant in Detroit. This was a somewhat, somber show, according to the news you will hear in the audio. For it was also the time when Detroit area restaurant owner Chuck Muir (along with his wife) was reported missing aboard his sailboat during a storm in the Bahamas. And auto dealership owner and long-time friends, George and Lynn Drummey (of Drummey Olds) were also on board as well. I don’t think they were ever found.”

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Newly restored! This selected audio recording was digitally restored by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.