by
Pat Caputo
Pat Caputo, a former Oakland Press sports columnist who worked for 97.1 The Ticket and was a contributor at Fox 2 Sports, died Thursday after battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He was 67.
A social media post from the family said: “Today May 7th we lost Pat to cancer. Pat was surrounded by his family. Thank you for all your support. The Caputo family.”
Caputo, a graduate of Birmingham Seaholm and Michigan State, was first hired by the Oakland Press to answer phones in 1983. In 1984, he was hired full time to cover high school sports, and in 2002, he became the paper's sports columnist.
He also started working for 97.1 The Ticket in the early 2000s and became a contributor to Fox 2 Sports.
He was known as "The Book" for his total recall of sports stats and memories.
In April 2020, at the onset of Covid, Caputo, then 61, was laid off from the Oakland Press as a sportswriter and columnist after 37 years. He continued to work at 97.1 and contribute to Fox 2 Sports.
"I'm the luckiest guy in the history of the world," Caputo told the Detroit News after he was laid off from the Oakland Press. "Not to sound like Lou Gehrig or something, but I started there answering phones in May of 1983. That's how everything built up, for whatever I've been able to experience."
"There's no bitterness at all, no anger. Obviously, like everybody else that's in that situation, there's the disappointment. But the disappointment isn't because I have anger at the Oakland Press. I love the Oakland Press. The experiences I've had have been amazing."
Caputo vanished from the air on 97.1 in December and hadn't posted an article on the site since last November.
In January, he explained why in a post on X:
"For those wondering where I’ve been: I have been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, commonly referred to as a 'death sentence,' and had two other serious ailments which put me in ICU for several days. It was sudden. I’ve literally been on my back for weeks. Bless you all."
Fox 2 Sports Director Dan Miller said he knew the prognosis was not good.
"This is a day we probably knew was coming after Pat's diagnosis, and we learned how significant it was. But it's still difficult," said Miller in a story posted on the station's website. "Pat was a member of our family here for at least 25 years. I've been here for 29, and Pat was here for most of it on our Sunday night roundtable."
"He was one of one," Miller said. "He was opinionated, he was never going to come up short in telling you how he felt. He was somebody who, when the (camera) light went on Sunday nights, you weren't sure of what you were going to get. You didn't know what side of the issue, but you knew once he opened his mouth, you were going to figure it out rather quickly.
"Pat would look right at the camera and talk about whoever he was going to talk about."
