Can My Kid Be Like Ben Rice?
Ben Rice
Ben Rice is sitting atop the highest of sports mountains at the present moment.
Earlier this week, while playing at home in New York against their bitter rival Boston Red Sox, he set the tone in game one of the Wild Card playoff series, and helped put the Yankees ahead for good. With two out in the bottom of the fifth inning, and the Red Sox still delivering solid pitching to that point, Rice crushed a 97 mph “sinker” from lefty reliever Erik Miller. He sent the ball soaring 425 feet, over the centre field fence and beyond the famed Monument Park, where the retired numbers of the greatest players to ever play for the Yankees, are honoured.
Rice & The Yankees
The Stadium erupted into an electric fan frenzy later in the game when Rice stepped to the plate again, this time with the bases loaded, and two out. Rice deposited a Brayan Bello offering deep into the Yankees bullpen, over and beyond the right/centre field wall for a Grand Slam home run.
Rice is currently listed, and has been starting, as the Yankees designated hitter, but that is mainly due to the incredible depth that manager Aaron Boone has to configure his lineup this postseason. Rice could, theoretically, be the Yankees’ starting catcher. That was his position at Dartmouth, where he played two seasons, with his sophomore season interrupted by the COVID pandemic, and from which he was ultimately drafted in the 12th round by the New York Yankees in the 2021 MLB draft.
He has started behind the plate for 17 games through the course of his three year MLB career. As an All Star, and especially with the absence of three time American League MVP Aaron Judge for most of the season and now into the playoffs, Rice, along with ace pitcher Cam Schlittler, has become one of the faces of this young Yankees team.
The fact that he was a 12th round pick in 2021, a round where only a small fraction of those drafted would ultimately be called up to play a single MLB game, is remarkable. He is now a bona fide star, and his rise from an Ivy League catcher to a Yankees contributor is an unlikely story in itself.
Consistency
Then there are the intangibles that he brings, which aren’t often measurable, but when bundled together and directed as a force of influence, have clearly made the Yankees a better club during his tenure.
First, and probably most notable, is his perpetual smile.
It isn’t forced.
After all, he makes nowhere near the annual salary of his contemporary teammates, like Judge, pitcher Gerrit Cole or designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton. Rice took home close to the league minimum through his first two years, and now, while in pre-arbitration, takes home a salary that is publicly disclosed at around $850,000.
He deserves more, given what he brings to the club, and that surely will play out in his favour during arbitration after the season.
It isn’t money, or the thought of eventual free agency, where Rice might become available to the highest bidder, that appears to drive him.
It’s his mindset.
He appears to internalize, and openly communicate, sometimes in Spanish, the psychology of what makes an athlete great. In one word, he described that as consistency.
Whether he arrived at and retained that conclusion during psychology lectures in Moore Hall on Dartmouth’s main campus, or while scrambling to facilitate pickup games with fellow college level players during the COVID shutdown, Rice carried on uninterrupted.
Routine
It might seem simple to apply consistency to an athlete’s pathway.
Goals are set. Plan the work. Work the plan.
Consistency, though, is much more than just showing up for practice. As Rice has shown, its applications aren’t limited to what transpires on the field.
As parents, it is challenging to perfectly model the precise routine that we hope our kids will follow. Reaching a point where our kids subconsciously apply consistency to their day to day lives takes work, and close attention to detail.
Routine builds habit, and good habits should translate to success.
This appears to have been modelled for Rice.
After all, his dad pitched and graduated from Brown, and Rice comes from a private schooling system that offered the resources and network to help him reach his goals, provided he put in the work.
Ben applied himself, and became a leader among his peers, ultimately graduating from Dartmouth in 2022 with a psychology degree. He is now one of a relatively small number of Yankees in the club’s distinguished history to have graduated from an Ivy League university before donning the pinstripes.
Watch Ben Rice
At the end of the day, we all simply want our kids to be happy.
Those of us who have kids who are committed to a sport, though, have probably heard their goal of wanting to play in the “show,” to be a star in the big leagues, whatever the sport might be.
Ben Rice can serve as an example of what that pursuit can look like. Consistent effort, a positive mindset, a willingness to continually fine tune his skills, and the ability to find joy in the process have all become part of his story.
He is a role model, although you’d be hard pressed to get him to admit that.
Sure, his upbringing might be quite different from yours or mine. The opportunities available to him may not be the same ones available to every young athlete. With that said, there is no singular, guaranteed formula for reaching the top level of professional sports.
The Takeaway
There is, however, something to be learned from the way Rice has approached the pursuit of his own goals. If your kid is absolutely sure that professional sports is where they wish to be, and what they want to do, then Rice provides a pretty compelling blueprint: work consistently, keep developing your skills, maintain a positive mindset and, perhaps most importantly, don’t lose the enjoyment that made you want to play in the first place.
That’s what makes Ben Rice an excellent role model. It’s not that every kid can become just like him, but every kid who is committed to becoming an athlete can definitely recognize, and identify what it took, and how he carried himself once he got there.