Bob Price
| Date and Place of Birth: | June 13, 1919 Portland, OR |
| Date and Place of Death: | December 31, 1944 Pacific Ocean |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Outfield |
| Rank: | Aviation Machinist's Mate First Class |
| Military Unit: | US Navy |
| Area Served: | Pacific Theater of Operations |
Henry R. "Bob" Price, son of Katherine B. Price, a vocal teacher, was born in Portland, Oregon, and signed as an
outfielder with the San Francisco Seals in 1938. The Seals farmed him
out to the Tucson Cowboys of the Class D Arizona-Texas League and he
impressed manager Harry Krause with his speed and hitting during spring
training at Hansford, California.
Price enjoyed an excellent rookie season with the Cowboys, batting .291
with 74 RBIs in 130 games, and advanced to the Salt Lake City Bees of
the Class C Pioneer League for 1939. Organized Baseball had been absent
from Salt Lake City for 11 years, and when the team took the field at
Community Park for their first spring training session on April 18, more
than 200 fans were in the stands. Price, playing left field and batting
in the number three spot, hit .346 with 38 doubles and stole 27 bases.
It was a great season for the 20-year-old and he fully expected to be
joining the Seals in 1940, but in late September, Price suffered a
ruptured appendix that required emergency surgery and numerous blood
transfusions. He spent several weeks at the Mount Zion Hospital in San
Francisco, and the incident drastically affected his baseball career.
At spring training with the San Francisco Seals in 1940, Price was a
contender for Dom DiMaggio's vacated center field berth, but the
after-effects of hospitalization hampered his performance. He did manage
to earn a place with the team when the regular season began and remained
until late June, but appeared in only 14 games, primarily as a
pinch-hitter and defensive replacement. Price was then optioned to the
Ogden Reds back in the Pioneer League, where he failed to hit and was
sold to the Boise Pilots of the same league on July 18. Price appeared
in 72 games for the season and his batting average dropped 135 points
from .346 in 1939 to .211 in 1940.
Price began the 1941 campaign with Boise, and although there were
occasional highlights such as three hits against Twin Falls on May 4, he
was batting just .231 when Boise owner Haydn Walker sold him to the
Oklahoma City Indians of the Texas League. The Indians immediately
optioned Price to the Salina Millers of the Class C Western Association,
where he continued to struggle at the plate, and he finished the season
with the Clarksdale Tigers of the Class C Cotton States League, where he
batted an improved .263 in 55 games.
Price was in military service the following year and served with the
Navy in the Pacific as an aviation machinist's mate first class. Bob
Price was lost at sea on December 31, 1944, and was survived by his father,
Abraham, who was living in San Francisco, his mother, Katherine, and two
brothers, Edward and Stanley, who were in Portland, Oregon.
Bob Price has a marker at the River View Cemetery in Portland, Oregon that was placed their in 1948.
|
Team |
League |
Class |
G |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
AVG |
|
| 1938 | Tucson | Arizona-Texas | D | 130 | 526 | 106 | 153 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 74 | .291 |
| 1939 | Salt Lake City | Pioneer | C | 106 | 477 | 95 | 165 | 38 | 10 | 10 | 84 | .346 |
| 1940 | San Francisco | PCL | AA | 14 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .125 |
| 1940 | Ogden/Boise | Pioneer | C | 72 | 299 | 40 | 63 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 25 | .211 |
| 1941 | Boise | Pioneer | C | 26 | 91 | 13 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .231 |
| 1941 | Salina | Western Assoc | C | 12 | 43 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .116 |
| 1941 | Clarksdale | Cotton States | C | 55 | 217 | 30 | 57 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 32 | .263 |
Date Added February 12, 2012 Updated June 7, 2014
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