John Thomas Reid Price (November 13, 1912 – October 2, 1967) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

who played in seven games for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

during the

1946 Cleveland Indians season In 1946, Bill Veeck finally became the owner of a major league team, the Cleveland Indians. He immediately put the team's games on radio, and set about to put his own indelible stamp on the franchise. Actor Bob Hope also acquired a minority share ...

. He was known for delighting fans with his skills – such as batting while hanging upside-down or throwing three balls to three different players in one movement – and was dubbed "the Clown Prince of Baseball" for his other antics, which also included releasing a pair of five-foot boa constrictors on board a train. Price briefly teamed up with

Max Patkin Max Patkin (January 10, 1920 – October 30, 1999) was an American baseball player and clown, best known as the Clown Prince of Baseball (a play on "Crown Prince"). Patkin was the third "officially" crowned Clown Prince of Baseball, after Al Scha ...

, another baseball clown; together they were described by

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

manager

Lou Boudreau Louis Boudreau (July 17, 1917 – August 10, 2001), nicknamed "Old Shufflefoot", "Handsome Lou", and "The Good Kid", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 seasons, primarily as a ...

as the "funniest show I ever saw". On October 2, 1967, Price committed suicide by hanging himself.

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1912 births 1967 suicides 1967 deaths Major League Baseball shortstops Cleveland Indians players Baseball players from Mississippi People from Benton County, Mississippi Suicides by hanging in California Union City Greyhounds players {{US-baseball-shortstop-stub