Pat Caputo

Longtime Detroit sports radio host and columnist Pat Caputo passed away Thursday (5/7) after a battle with cancer at the age of 67. In a post on social media, Caputo’s family said he died following a diagnosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer revealed earlier this year.

"Today, May 7, we lost Pat to cancer," said a post on his X account, formerly Twitter. "Pat was surrounded by his family. Thank you for all your support.  The Caputo Family."

Caputo, a former award-winning writer/columnist for The Oakland Press, began his radio career as a host at WDFN-AM in 1996. In 2001, he would join competitor WXYT-AM as the host of "The Book on Sports" on weeknights and weekends. When WXYT began simulcasting on the FM band in 2007, the show's name was standardized as "Pat Caputo." He was occasionally paired with Dennis Fithian, the co-host of "Caputo and Fithian" until Fithian left in 2020. Since then, he continued to host "Pat Caputo" on weekends and weeknights.

He was also the host of the Detroit Tigers annual hot stove radio show "TigerTalk" with Dan Dickerson, "Inside Hockeytown" with Ken Kal, and "Pistons Tonight." In 2022, he started a podcast called "Bustin' Balls with Pat Caputo" which goes over draft prospects for all four major sports leagues with regards to the local sports teams in Detroit.

Caputo's TV work included work at both WDIV-TV and WJBK-TV (FOX 2).

"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 FOX 2 Sports Director Dan Miller. "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. He was opinionated, he was never going to come up short in telling you how he felt.”

The Michigan native attended Groves High School and later Michigan State University.