Cleveland Indians History: Get These Snakes Off This Train

If someone was to have created ‘Snakes on a Plane’ in the 1940’s, it would have been ‘Snakes on a Train.’ That situation happened on this day in 1947, when Cleveland Indians infielder Jackie Price let two snakes free on the train the team was travelling in.

Chances are, even if one has not seen ‘Snakes on a Plane,’ you know the infamous Samuel L. Jackson line. After all, who would not be tired of having killer snakes on a plane when one is trying to have a relaxing journey somewhere? It is very inconsiderate.

Well, imagine if that movie had been made sixty years previously. As commercial airplanes were not a thing yet, we would have had ‘Snakes on a Train.’ Imagine hearing Humphrey Bogart or some other excellent actor uttering that line. Talk about the peak of cinematic history.

Well, on this day in 1947, Cleveland Indians infielder Jackie Price gave us an idea as to what that film would have been like. As the team was travelling from Los Angeles, Price let his two five foot long boa snakes go, where they ended up in a car filled with female members of the American Bowling Congress. Price, and his companions, were ordered off the train in San Diego.

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The snakes were actually a part of Price’s bit. He was considered a part of the Indians experience, a player in name only. Despite appearing in seven games for the Tribe in 1946, his role was to be a baseball showman. He would take batting practice from either side of the plate while hanging upside down, or with his snakes hanging off his body. Price would pitch with both hands, throwing a curve with one arm and a fastball with the other. He would also fire a ball into the air with an air gun and jump into a Jeep to catch the ball in the outfield, hit fungos in opposite directions with a bat in each hand, and hold three baseballs in one hand, throwing each of them in one motion to three different catcher’s mitts in the strike zone.

Despite Price’s popularity with the fans, that incident was the last straw. Regular shortstop/manager Lou Boudreau barely tolerated Price as it was, and this incident was the final nail in that coffin. When he was taken off the train, that would be the last time he would be a part of the Indians. He did continue his act however, travelling to Canada and Cuba before retiring at the end of the 1950’s.

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Cleveland Indians baseball clown Jackie Price gave us an idea as to what ‘Snakes on a Plane’ would have been like if it was set 60 years earlier. Who knew that movie had a real life prequel?