His parents drove up from Cohasset, Massachusetts, on Saturday and returned to the stadium Saturday night to watch Ben Rice play his third game this week for the New York Yankees, this time against the Braves.
“It’s scary to even think about something like this happening,” Dan Rice said over the phone. “I always say, ‘I hope so. Oh, that would be great.'”
But Dan Rice never envisioned that, or his son standing on first base at Yankee Stadium for the New York Yankees.
“It’s not long enough to jinx it, is it?” Dan Rice said.
Ben started out playing hockey. “Like most kids, he started skating at age 2,” Dan said. “We had a little rink in the backyard when it was cold enough to skate.”
The baseball dream began shortly thereafter.
“As soon as he started hitting things, I was throwing things at him,” Dan said.
I did it over and over again for years.
“It started in the circular area of the house we live in, which I call a cul-de-sac but I think most people call a cul-de-sac,” Dan said. “I had an ‘L’ screen, which is kind of a weird suburban addition (laughs) so I could throw little tennis balls to him. Then when he got big enough we went to a Little League field. He grew out of there and we went to other fields.”
“I remember there were a number of times when Ben would come down to the batting cages and shovel snow.”
The opportunity to attend Dartmouth College led Ben to pursue a career in baseball.
“He was always a good hitter,” Dunn said, “but he didn’t grow up as other kids did. He matured late. He got bigger, he got stronger, and all of a sudden that ball just started going out there.”
An agent named Pete Mrowka always believed in Ben.
“He’s said many times that he was going to be a Division I player,” Dunn said.
The Yankees selected Ben in the 12th round of the 2021 MLB Draft.
“Yeah, it was a big day,” Dan said. “I was hoping the Yankees would win. I used to go to the library before the game to do some work, like most people with laptops do. So Ben went with me to the Cotuit Library and watched the draft, and then he got drafted. There was a librarian in the library, and it was pretty quiet except for us (laughs). And after he got drafted, his grandma came over.”
Ben, who was one hit for three with one walk and one run scored in the Yankees’ 8-3 win over the Braves, has been a Derek Jeter fan since he was a kid. “He had a Yankees jersey on in his freshman year picture,” Dan said.
Dan recalled the “Legends Tour” at Fenway Park in April 2004, when Ben was five years old.
“Ben went in there wearing a Yankees jacket and a Yankees hat,” he said, “and we took his picture in front of the Green Monster. Then they take you to Pesky Pole and give you a Sharpie or something, and everyone has to sign it. That’s part of the tour. And Ben wrote (laughs) ‘Yankees Rules.'”
Former Red Sox general manager Lou Gorman was there too. “Derek Jeter is my favorite player,” Ben told him.
Dan: “And Lou Gorman said, ‘Wow, he’s a great player. I wish he was on the team.’
When Ben (.214 batting average, .547 OPS) singled in his first game with the Yankees, the Rice family cheering squad was ecstatic and celebrated with him after the game.
“I think they made an exception and after people cleared out of there for a bit, we went out onto the field, and of course it’s sacred ground,” Dunn said. “To be able to go out onto the field with your kids at Yankee Stadium and do all that, it’s pretty amazing.”
Dan once had the same dream of playing in major league baseball. He was a Frank Robinson/Orioles fan. He was a pitcher for Brown. He is now a lawyer.
“I come from that era, as every boy in America was, and hopefully still is,” Dan says, “but it was certainly what everyone aspired to be when I was growing up.”
The Yankees love Ben’s makeup just as much as they love Anthony Volpe’s makeup.
“You notice when he does his homework, he’s not stressed about it,” Dunn said. “He’s sweet and calm, and I think you can see that at the plate. That’s how he competes. I’ve seen him laugh after he gets a hit. He’s competitive, and he enjoys it.”
Dunn thought Ben’s best path to the major leagues was as a left-handed hitting catcher, a position the Yankees had wanted to keep him in for a while. “He’ll go wherever they need him,” Dunn said.
Ben’s brother, Sam, and Sam’s girlfriend will also be at the party on Sunday. The Rice family plans to go whenever they need to watch New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice play.
