Yankees Mag: Thrice as Nice (2024)

Ben Rice had already hit two home runs against the Boston Red Sox on July 6, and the question that came to mind as the first baseman stepped into the batter’s box in the seventh inning was obvious.

Rice didn’t allow much time for contemplation, hitting the second pitch he saw from Boston reliever Chase Anderson deep into the right-field seats. Rice’s third home run on an overwhelmingly hot and humid afternoon in the Bronx gave the Yankees a 14-4 lead in a game that instantly became one of the most memorable of the season and a part of team lore.

In the pantheon of iconic Yankees, none of the greatest players past or present had ever hit three homers in a game during their rookie season. Ben Rice will always be the first Yankee to accomplish that feat.

“It’s humbling, knowing how many legends have worn this jersey before me,” Rice said after the game. “It’s definitely a day I will never forget. I’m just pumped that it came in a big win for us.”

The milestone was accomplished in Rice’s 17th big league game, and just his third in the leadoff spot. Before making history in the seventh, Rice led off the July 6 game with a solo shot against Boston starter Josh Winckowski and then launched a three-run blast off Anderson in the fifth. The rookie’s offensive explosion also came at a time when the team needed a win. After jumping out to an early lead in the American League East, the Yankees had lost four in a row and 14 out of 18.

“What a game,” Aaron Boone said as he addressed the media in the Yankee Stadium press conference room. “In the midst of what we’re going through, to set the tone right away in the first inning with a homer and then put together a legendary day, it’s just really big time.”

Gerrit Cole, who gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings, provided his own perspective.

“We’re going through it, so we’ll take any kind of success,” he said. “But really, I think it’s a little bit greater than that. It’s a historical day, a magical day. To be honest, I’m thankful that I get to be in the lineup card because I know he’ll remember it forever.”

Like Cole, fellow superstars Aaron Judge and Juan Soto were well aware of the significance of Rice’s feat. From the on-deck circle, Judge began to encourage the sellout crowd, already on its feet, to continue to cheer until Rice came out of the dugout. As Rice made his way toward the dugout steps for his first curtain call, Soto stepped out of the batter’s box.

“Honestly, it was all happening so fast,” Rice said. “I was just walking through the dugout, and I heard everyone yelling at me to do something. At first, I didn’t even know what they were talking about, but then it hit me: a curtain call.”

For Rice, who joined Lou Gehrig as the only rookies in team history with seven RBIs in a game, there was even more storybook drama baked into his coming-out party. The 2021 12th-round Draft choice grew up in Cohasset, Massachusetts, a small beach town located less than 25 miles southeast of Boston’s Fenway Park. During his childhood, Rice did not root for the hometown Red Sox, but rather for the team that would ultimately draft him.

As a 5-year-old, Rice took a tour of Fenway with his family, and he did so in a Yankees dugout jacket. On that day, 20 years before he etched his name into the long history of baseball’s fiercest rivalry, he inked the words “Yankees Rule” onto the Pesky Pole in right field.

Although he was surrounded by Red Sox fans during his childhood, Rice was drawn to the Yankees in large part because of the impression that Derek Jeter had on him and his family from afar.

“I was a big fan of Derek,” Rice said. “Watching his career unfold was a real highlight for me. Once I showed an interest in the Yankees, my parents guided me toward rooting for Derek. They really liked the way he carried himself on and off the field. He was a competitor, and he had a lot of class. They just felt like he was a really good guy for a little kid who was playing baseball to look up to. He respected the game, his opponents and his teammates. He just did everything the right way; he was the captain for a reason.”

At 25 years old and still just a few months into his Major League career, Rice has goals that extend far beyond what he accomplished in one game. He hopes to have a long tenure in pinstripes, but regardless of where Rice’s baseball life takes him, his journey has already been as inspiring as it has been serendipitous.

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From his earliest days in elementary school, Rice spent as much time on the ice as he did on the infield dirt.

“If you asked me when I was 9 years old, I probably would have told you that I was going to play in MLB and the NHL,” Rice said during an exclusive Yankees Magazine interview at Yankee Stadium the day before his three-home run game. “I really loved both; I would say that hockey had a little bit of an edge on baseball until I was in high school and realized that I would have more opportunities going that route. Around my sophom*ore year, baseball started to take over a little bit, but I played both all the way through high school. I was still considering going to college to play hockey until my junior year. Neither sport was way ahead of the other until baseball naturally carved a more clear path for me.”

A star catcher -- in addition to his rare hockey talent -- for Noble and Greenough School, Rice joined the US9 Prospects, a private travel baseball organization based out of eastern Massachusetts, when he was 13 years old. Although Rice didn’t know it at the time, his decision to play for Pete Mrowka would benefit him while he was in high school and after he played his final collegiate game.

“I played on that club every summer through my senior year of high school,” Rice said. “That was a great experience; we had a fun team. We played in wood-bat tournaments in the summer and in a ton of league games. That’s where the majority of my recruiting for college happened.”

Rice’s baseball resume, combined with his superior academic performance, got him into prestigious Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

“I always valued academics, so that was something that was going to be important to me in figuring out which school I wanted to go to,” he said. “Dartmouth was one of the two schools that offered me a spot on its baseball team. When it seemed like an Ivy League school would be a good fit and baseball was an option, Dartmouth made the most sense. They had a few guys that made it to the big leagues just prior to me getting there.”

It didn’t take Rice long into his tenure with the Big Green before he set his sights on playing professional baseball. As a freshman catcher in 2019, Rice worked his way into the starting lineup and finished the spring campaign with a .323 average in 18 games. He followed that up with a torrid 27-game run for the Worcester Bravehearts of the Futures Collegiate League in Massachusetts, batting .392 with five home runs.

“I felt good about the 2019 season,” Rice said. “I got a little bit of attention from a scout or two, and going into the 2020 spring season, I knew that I would be eligible for the Draft. At that point, there were still 40 rounds in the Draft. I didn’t totally expect to get drafted, but I felt like if I put together a good year, I would have a chance.”

Rice began the 2020 season the same way he had ended the previous year, producing at the plate and behind it. But within a few days of Dartmouth’s 4-3 loss to Virginia on March 1, the season was over as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was tough,” Rice said. “It all happened so fast. It almost felt like we went from rumors of there being a weird sickness going around to everything shutting down immediately, with our conference being the first one to cancel all competition. Before I knew it, that season was gone and I was at home, trying to find ways to play.”

Although the circ*mstances were filled with uncertainty and despair, Rice found comfort in being able to pick up a routine that he had reveled in for as long as he could remember.

“I went back home and hit with my dad every day,” Rice said. “That’s what my baseball life had always revolved around. That’s what I had always done. There was a batting cage right by the local high school in my town. My dad and I would go there every day and do our normal hitting routine. I didn’t really know what I was practicing for; the summer season was still up in the air. But I still loved to hit, and we were having a lot of fun. It was a weird time, but we were making the most of it.”

With no promise that the world would return to normal in 2020, Mrowka -- who is also a certified MLBPA agent (and represented Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus during his playing career) -- began an effort to get local players back on the field as a way to keep them fresh. With the help of his son, Buddy, then at Harvard, and fellow Harvard player Tommy Seidl, Mrowka gathered a group of college players at a local high school to get live at-bats. Rice was part of that group.

“I was excited to do that,” Rice said. “We were all just trying to stay in shape. We got a few of those workouts in on a few different fields. Any time there were pitchers who wanted to throw, and a few hitters and a catcher, we would meet up.”

Rice saw tremendous value in those organized workouts, and his presence helped draw attention. Not only was he the most talented player on the field, but he could also catch. Before long, in addition to honing his own skills, he was helping to increase participation and improve the operation.

Those workouts -- many of which took place on cold spring days in New England -- and the time spent with his dad in the cage prepared Rice for his second Futures Collegiate League season with the Bravehearts in 2020, a summer season in which Rice truly put himself on the map.

With just about every amateur baseball organization for college players shut down, including the Cape Cod Baseball League, scouts flocked to the fields where Futures Collegiate League games were being played, and Rice rose to the top of the heap.

In the abbreviated 38-game season, the 6-foot-1-inch slugger paced the league with 11 home runs, a .683 slugging percentage and a 1.150 OPS. His .350 batting average, 27 RBIs and .467 on-base percentage were good for third among all hitters. Soon after leading his teammates to a best-of-three championship series, which they lost, Rice was selected as the league MVP.

“The biggest thing for me that summer was that I was actually doing so well in front of Major League scouts,” Rice said. “That league isn’t usually that heavily scouted, but in 2020, we were the only league going on in New England. We had a lot of scouts at our games; we were on the biggest stage. It felt like everyone was paying attention to us in terms of baseball in New England. It was great to play well and to then get the recognition at the end of that season.”

Yankees Northeast area scout Matt Hyde watched Rice on a consistent basis that summer, and the more he saw, the more he liked.

“He was this All-American-looking kid who had big, left-handed raw power,” Hyde said during a trip to Yankee Stadium for Rice’s big league debut on June 18. “He was playing a premium position, and he had great mental makeup. He’s not only a leader, but you could tell that he absolutely loves the game. He loves to be on the field; loves to put in the work. Those are intangibles that we’re always looking for. Sometimes, they’re very hard to uncover and find, but with Rice, we were able to see that out of him.”

As summer turned to fall in 2020, the global pandemic was still limiting baseball activities at Dartmouth, so Rice remained in Cohasset, where he completed his coursework online. At that same time, he, Buddy Mrowka and Seidl began to recruit more players to work out, leading to the creation of the New England Grit Baseball League.

“By the fall, Pete [Mrowka] got the idea that we could do something more organized,” Rice said. “We were able to set up a makeshift league at the New England Baseball Complex. We would all take batting practice and do fielding, and then we would play as many innings as we could. Sometimes we had umpires, and other times, we didn’t. There were times when I would call balls and strikes, or we would have coaches help out.”

The objective was not to win games, but rather to get productive work in and to hopefully draw scouts to the facility.

“Word just spread about what we were doing,” Rice said. “Pete knew some of the scouts, and [fellow coach] Kyle Decker from Harvard got in touch with some people, as well. I already had Matt Hyde’s number from the summer, so I let him know what we were doing.”

Rice was hungry to build off of what he had done that summer. He wanted to prove that his MVP performance wasn’t a fluke, and with no idea when he would get the chance to play for Dartmouth, this was the time to solidify his Draft status.

“I could have been at school if I wanted to, but the restrictions about what you could do around other people were very strict, and it made it tough to get any productive work in,” Rice said. “This league allowed me to get live at-bats. Some scouts saw me over the summer and probably wanted to know if I was the real deal. This gave them the chance to watch me hit against college pitchers. They got more looks at me.”

As fate would have it, Yankees vice president of domestic amateur scouting Damon Oppenheimer was spending more time in Massachusetts than in New York or Florida because his son was playing hockey there. That led to Oppenheimer watching Rice in person on a frequent basis -- probably more so than any other team’s top scouting brass.

“The fact that Damon Oppenheimer’s son was playing junior hockey in the area was the most important part of the whole thing,” Rice said. “I didn’t know how important that was at the time, but looking back on it now, that was pivotal. I was totally in the right place at the right time. It was really, really important for me.”

Not only did Rice impress Oppenheimer and Hyde with his powerful bat, but he also showed a commitment to doing everything he could to hone his craft, despite being limited to just 30 collegiate games.

“There was a lot of initiative that went into the league they put together, and Ben helped organize it,” Hyde said. “He was really able to show us a lot when so many things were shut down.”

Hyde said that he and Oppenheimer were on the same page about Rice; they both wanted to draft him in 2021.

Rice had hoped to boost his Draft status with a strong junior season during the spring of 2021, but for the second season in a row, the Ivy League was shut down as a result of COVID-19 concerns.

“The second time was harder to deal with because we were the only Division I conference to cancel that season,” Rice said. “At the same time, I felt like I dealt with it really well. I saw it coming, and I was able to prepare myself for it. We already knew what we were going to do if that happened.”

Although Rice was not afforded the chance to suit up for Dartmouth that season, he was able to secure a roster spot on the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod League. The catcher batted .265 with nine RBIs in 13 games leading up to the MLB Draft that summer.

“That was what I was mentally and physically preparing for during the spring of 2021,” Rice said. “I wanted to be ready for the Cape League. I felt prepared, but I also felt more pressure when I got there. I felt like how I played there would control whether I got drafted or not. I thought it was important to show that I could produce with a wood bat against quality pitching.”

In reality, Yankees brass had already made a decision on Rice, and when he was available in the 12th round, the organization selected him. Rice’s Draft-day experience was filled with joy, starting in a venue not normally associated with boisterous celebrations.

“Just because of the timing of the Draft, my dad and I met up at the local library,” Rice said. “We were screaming when I got selected, and I don’t think anyone in there knew what was going on. It’s a fun memory and something I will never forget.

“To get drafted by the team that you rooted for as a little kid, that was a full-circle moment. Being there with my dad made it even more special because he has been with me every step of the way.”

Rice began his professional career at the end of July 2021 with two games in Rookie ball. An early August promotion brought him to the Single-A Tampa Tarpons, where he played in 20 games down the stretch. Rice remained with the Tarpons in 2022, batting .267 with nine home runs in 68 games.

The organization also began to give Rice playing time at first base that season, in an effort to potentially create more opportunities for him to matriculate to the big leagues, especially considering that the big club had two players entrenched at catcher.

With a solid number of games under his belt, Rice continued his ascent up the organizational ladder in 2023. After spending April with Hudson Valley, he missed May and June with an oblique injury. He did a 10-game rehab assignment with Tampa, then was promoted to Double-A Somerset in mid-July.

Rice batted .327 with the Patriots, while clubbing 16 roundtrippers and driving in 48 runs in 48 games. For the season, he combined to hit .324 with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs in 73 games across three levels.

“The 2022 season was just as important as the 2023 season,” he said. “I didn’t really know what they had in store for me, so I kind of had to just put my head down and keep working. I had to take what was given to me in terms of opportunities. But I was slowly but surely able to improve, and people started to take notice. I was able to work my way into a more regular role, catching, DH’ing and playing a little first base. I think that the organization saw some potential in me going into the 2023 season, and I was able to carry that momentum.”

In between Minor League seasons, Rice returned to Dartmouth, taking in-person classes in the fall. He also completed online classes during the spring semester, ultimately earning a bachelor’s degree from the Ivy League institution.

“It was something that was really important to me,” Rice said. “I wanted to get it out of the way, and I also thought I would enjoy it more if I did it when some of the people I knew were still in school with me. I’m happy with the decision I made.”

The 2024 season was much like 2023 for Rice. He hit 15 home runs in 60 games between Double-A and Triple-A while continuing to improve at first base. When Yankees veteran first baseman Anthony Rizzo went down with a broken arm in mid-June, Rice got the call he had dreamt about since childhood.

“When [Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders manager] Shelley Duncan called me with the news, I was speechless,” Rice said. “I was so excited. I immediately called my parents, my family and a couple of friends. It was a chaotic time, but it was a moment filled with a lot of happiness and joy.

“Driving up and actually seeing the Stadium in front of me and knowing that I was going to be on the field that day, that was incredible. When I was walking into the dugout, I was trying to take it all in on very little sleep.”

With his family on hand at Yankee Stadium, Rice made his big league debut on June 18, smiling broadly after collecting his first big league hit that night. He remained a mainstay in the lineup through his first two months with the big club, earning praise from Boone for the makeup that initially impressed the team’s scouts.

“You can see the calm at-bats that he takes,” the manager said. “He understands the strike zone. He combines controlling the strike zone with an ability to get the ball in the air.”

Following Rice’s historic game against the Red Sox, team officials brought his parents to the home dugout for a touching postgame reunion. Rice may have many big moments ahead of him in baseball, but this was the first one. This was the moment when all of the hard work came to fruition, when all of the obstacles of the last four years had been conquered.

“If you told me during the pandemic that I was eventually going to be starting at first base at Yankee Stadium, I would have said, ‘No way,’” Rice said. “But honestly, it may not have surprised me, because the dream of being here is what always kept me going.”

Alfred Santasiere III is the editor-in-chief of Yankees Magazine. This story appears in the August 2024 edition. Get more articles like this delivered to your doorstep by purchasing a subscription to Yankees Magazine at www.yankees.com/publications.