Press & broadcasting / Sports
Van Patrick
1916–1974 · sportscaster
Play-by-play voice of the Detroit Lions and Tigers in the 1950s and 1960s and a fixture of Detroit sports television.
- Born
- Died
aged 58- Detroit years
- 1949–1974
- Field
- Press & broadcasting, Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Van Patrick, a former Texas Christian University football player who had been a teammate of Sammy Baugh, became sports director of Detroit's WJR radio in 1949 and held that job until 1953. Over the following two decades he was one of the city's most familiar sports voices. He called Detroit Tigers games in the 1950s until a sponsorship change in 1959 led the club to replace him with Ernie Harwell, and he was long the play-by-play announcer of the Detroit Lions, including the franchise's championship years of the 1950s. He also delivered sports segments on the evening news on WJBK-TV, where his toupee became a running joke around town. Patrick served as president of the Detroit sports broadcasters' association and was still active in broadcasting when he died in 1974.
Highlights
- WJR sports director 1949–1953
- Longtime play-by-play voice of the Detroit Lions
- Tigers broadcaster until 1959, succeeded by Ernie Harwell
- Sports anchor on WJBK-TV newscasts
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1950s–1970s
Tiger Stadium (Briggs Stadium) (site)
Demolished · 1912–1999
Home of both the Tigers and the Lions during his years at the microphone; demolished in 2008–2009.