La Ferne Ellis Price (January 26, 1926 – May 27, 2016) was an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played in the

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was a professional women's baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL is the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the Uni ...

during the 1944 season. Price batted and threw right handed. After entering the league, she started to be known simply as 'Ferne', a moniker that she proudly used throughout her life.La Ferne Ellis Price obituary
''AAGPBL Official Website''. Retrieved on September 7, 2016. Madden, W. C. ''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book'' (2000). McFarland & Company. .La Ferne Price in the 1940 Census
''Ancestry.com.'' Retrieved on September 8, 2016. Born in

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...

, to James Frederick Price (1892-1958) and Cornelia Elizabeth Suzanna "Cora" Smit (1899-1987), Price was a long time resident of

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

, where she graduated from Wiley High School in 1944. Price joined the league with the

Milwaukee Chicks The Milwaukee Chicks were a women's professional baseball team which played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the season. They were managed by Max Carey, former star player for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Brooklyn Robi ...

club, which was managed by

Max Carey Maximillian George Carnarius (January 11, 1890 – May 30, 1976), known as Max George Carey, was an American professional baseball center fielder and manager. Carey played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1910 through 1 ...

, also a Terre Haute native as well as a former

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), ...

player and manager and future

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

member. Price made only four game appearances for the Chicks, who won the 1944 AAGPBL championship title after defeating the

Kenosha Comets Based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Kenosha Comets were a women's professional baseball team that played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team played their home games at List of defunct amusement parks#Wisc ...

in seven games. Following her brief baseball career, Price received a degree in

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

from

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

in 1948 and a master's degree in 1956,Dr. Ferne E. Price - Indiana State Athletics Hall of Fame
. ''Indiana State Sycamores''. Retrieved on September 8, 2016. where she served as physical instructor as well as

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

coach in the women's squads before retiring in 1989 after 23 years of service. A short time after her retirement, the dedication of Price to softball was recognized by ISU renaming its home softball field to Ferne Price Field. Other of her most significant accomplishments included The Caleb Mills Distinguished Teaching Award from ISU in 1987, The Girls and Women’s Sport Presidential Citation in 1983, and inductions into the National Girls and Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Indiana State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998. In between, Price earned a

Doctorate of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

in 1970. On her journey through academia, she authored ''The Wonder of Motion: A Sense of Life for Woman''; a book about women’s mental and physical commitments in all facets of sport, which was released in 1970 and reedited in 1983. The AAGPBL folded in 1954, but there is now a permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...

since November 5, 1988 that honors those who were part of this unique experience. Price, along with the rest of the league's girls, is included at the display/exhibit.Before A League of Their Own
''National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum''. Retrieved on September 5, 2016. Ferne Price died in 2016 in Terre Haute, Indiana, at the age of 90. Ferne also has an infamous first cousin,

Perry Edward Smith Perry Edward Smith (October 27, 1928 – April 14, 1965) was one of two career criminals convicted of murdering the four members of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, United States, on November 15, 1959, a crime that was made famous by Truma ...

, one of two men who killed the Clutter family in Kansas. They are related through Price's mother, Cora, who was the sister of Perry's father, John "Tex" Smith.[rel= "nofollow" https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61255/images/47429_550759-02217?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.254235211.2130604412.1605138307-1385757322.1598453193&pId=217640 LaFerne Price's birth record] ''Ancestry.com.'' Retrieved on 22 Nov 2020Mother Cora's birth record
''Ancestry.com.'' Retrieved on 22 Nov 2020Perry's father, John "Tex" Smith.
''Findagrave.com'' Retrieved on 20 Nov 2020

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, La Verne 1926 births 2016 deaths All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players American philosophers 20th-century American philosophers Baseball players from Montana American softball coaches Indiana State Sycamores softball coaches Sportspeople from Terre Haute, Indiana Indiana State Sycamores swimming coaches Indiana State University alumni University of Iowa alumni American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American women