That does it! I knew there must be a way
Just typing "python" on the command line will reveal the version but that also invokes the 'python shell' which the OP did not want.
Thanks for the tip @dos2unix
You can use the Python command to get the Python interpreter version. For the default Python installation use
python -v
OR for Python2
python2 -v
Or Python3
python3 -v
Reference: https://www.poftut.com/find-python-version/