Yankees’ Ben Rice talks journey from low profile to pinstripes: ‘I’ve earned it’

Yankees rookie first baseman Ben Rice takes a swing at some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.

Q: You wanted to be a comedian in fifth grade?

A: (Laugh) I think I might have said that, yeah. I can’t remember for sure, but I definitely was a little bit of a class clown. So I think that was at the top of my aspiration list — probably still second to being a baseball or hockey player.

Q: Class clown in what way? What would you do?

A: I don’t know, I was probably very disruptive in class, very distracting to my classmates (smile). I definitely had my fair share of warnings or trips to the principal’s office or timeouts maybe … just blurting stuff out, just typical little-boy stuff.

Q: Did you have a favorite comedian?

A: When I was younger I don’t know if I had one. Nowadays I like Bill Burr, another Boston guy.

Q: What is so great about being a New York Yankee?

A: I feel like just the pride that you take in wearing the pinstripes. There’s so much history in this organization and so many legends that have worn that uniform, and it’s honestly just really an honoring, humbling experience to be a part of it.

Q: Have you been to the monuments?

A: I haven’t yet, no, but I gotta do that. It’s gotta be on my bucket list.

Q: Why do you believe that you belong?

A: I tell myself I’ve earned it. I think I’ve kind of worked my way out of some more, like, under-the-radar situations. … Went to a lower-profile school [Dartmouth] in terms of baseball. Was able to dig myself out of some tough situations with COVID, and just continuously kind of earned my opportunity. When I got to the minors, earned my way into more playing time. So I know that I’m here because … I earned it. So that gives me the confidence that I belong here, and that I can continue to improve and continue to earn my way onto the field.

Q: Do you think it takes a special makeup to play in New York, and do you have that makeup?

A: I think it takes a certain kind of makeup, yeah. That being said, I haven’t played anywhere else. So this is kind of all I’ve known so far, but of course you can tell like there’s more of a spotlight on you. … The lights shine a little brighter at the Stadium. There’s a little bit more weight that you carry on your shoulders as a New York Yankee. Yeah, I would say I absolutely have the makeup to be able to play here, and again, it’s all I know, so I love it.

Q: You don’t mind that weight?

A: No, no. I think it’s cool. I love it.

Q: What drives you?

A: What’s always driven me is knowing how much better I can be. I’ve always said that. I know that just throughout my career, honestly I feel like I’m still very limited relative to a lot of players in terms of experience. So, with that, I know that I still have so much room for growth in so many different facets of the game. So that’s always motivating me to keep going and keep going ,’cause I know how much better I can be.

Q: Describe your on-field mentality.

A: Just to compete, compete, compete, compete. Be a tough out. Give my all every single day on both sides of the ball, and try to help give my team a chance to win.

Q: Do you take notice of the right-field porch?

A: Nah.

Q: Or would that be counterproductive?

A: I don’t think it’d be counterproductive, but I don’t think about it. I’ve never thought about where the fence is or what the dimensions are in right field.

Q: Who do you think had the prettiest swing, either growing up or now?

A: Ken Griffey Jr. had an amazing swing. I feel like that’s a classic answer. I loved watching him swing.

Q: How would you rate your swing on a prettiness scale of 1-10?

A: If Ken Griffey Jr.’s a 10, I don’t think I’m as majestic, but I would give myself an 8 or a 9.

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Q: What’s it like watching Aaron Judge take batting practice?

A: It’s cool. It’s very intentional, everything he does. And then, obviously, if he gets ahold of one, it’s gonna go a long way.

Q: What struck you about his home run record chase two years ago?

A: It was just special. It was something that I don’t think people thought would ever happen again (laugh), but then here we are. He’s on pace to do it again, and even exceed that, so it’s fun to watch.

Q: What makes Juan Soto special?

A: First, I mean, his talent to recognize pitches, and drive the ball. But also just his mentality, his confidence in the batter’s box is something I admire.

Q: Anthony Volpe?

A: He’s been helpful, just like showing me the ropes, how to handle yourself as a rookie around here.

Q: What is the quality Aaron Boone has that allows him to survive the New York jungle?

A: Obviously I’m new to him, but I can tell right away that the whole team is behind him and the clubhouse loves having him as our manager. He played in the bigs for a long time, and he understands what guys are going through on the field and understands what it’s like to play in New York. So I think the fact that he has that kind of relatable aspect to him for our players in our clubhouse is important, and I think the city and the fan base respects that as well.

Q: Who are catchers you’ve admired over the years when you were a catching prospect?

A: I always liked watching Joe Mauer. I feel like he was a good guy to watch not only as a catcher, but as a hitter. Growing up watching the Yankees, I liked [Jorge] Posada, and even with the Red Sox, too, I liked [Jason] Varitek.

Q: First basemen you admired?

A: I know [Mark] Teixeira, when he was on the Yankees, he was fun to watch. I’ll cheat a little bit on the answer and say “Big Papi” David Ortiz playing first base a few times for the Red Sox, so put him in there (laugh).

Q: What got into you when you were a young boy signing “Yankees Rule” on the Pesky Pole at Fenway?

A: I don’t have much of a memory of that, I was so young when I did it. But I’m sure I was egged on by my dad because he probably thought it was funny (laugh).

Q: You wore a Yankees jacket and cap when you got to be on the field at Fenway that day.

A: Yes, yes, I did. I don’t know, I had a thing for like rooting for teams other than my hometown teams. I liked the Yankees, mostly just I liked Derek Jeter so much. And then, like hockey, I was a huge Red Wings fan. I had a Red Wings-themed bed when I was little. Because Steve Yzerman was my favorite player on the Red Wings. And eventually Pavel Datsyuk as well. Playing video games, I would play “MLB 2K6,” and I was always the Yankees. And then if I played a hockey video game, I was always playing with the Red Wings. Those were my teams.

Q: The Core Four: Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Posada and Andy Pettitte. Thoughts on Rivera?

A: He was also one of my favorite players to watch. I remember when my dad would throw me BP sometimes, he would try to impersonate famous pitchers. The “Goose” [Rich Gossage] was one of ’em. If the Goose was pitching, my dad would throw like really fast. He would say sometimes, “It’s Mariano Rivera,” and he’d try to throw cutters at me. Trust me, he’s not gonna be able to throw Mariano Rivera’s cutter, but when you’re a little kid in the batting cage with your dad, it’s gonna feel like it, right?

Q: The batting cage was where?

A: We used a ton of different batting cages over the years.

Q: Did you shovel one of them?

A: The batting cage over at the local high school in the winter. It snowed one day. At this point we didn’t have like a consistent indoor facility to go hit at that was nearby. So I went to the batting cage and just shoveled the snow out of the way so we could get some kind of swings in that day.

Q: How indebted are you to your father for helping you?

A: Oh, forever. Whether it was driving back and forth from games or practices for my whole life, hockey or baseball. His pitch count is well over the limit (laugh) that you’d allow. I know that during my season he tries to keep it in shape and make sure that his arm is loose for every offseason so that we can get our work in. He’s thrown countless, countless pitches to me.

Q: How are you indebted to your mom?

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A: She’s just always been there. She’s been everything. She’s a good athlete herself, she still plays hockey. She’s probably had at this point a longer hockey career than me. She’s probably been playing the last I think 15-plus years. I used to go to some of her games, it was fun. But she’s the best.

Q: Back to the Core Four: Posada.

A: Really just a complete player. He was an unbelievable defensive catcher, and also could do some talking with the bat as well.

Q: Pettitte?

A: Just a legendary arm. Legendary arm. He obviously helps out with us here, it was pretty cool getting to hit some BP off him over at Citi Field the other day, that was fun.

Q: Why do you wear No. 93?

A: They just gave me that number in spring training. But it’s funny, Spencer Jones was wearing that number last season in Hudson Valley. I think he was planning on like he wanted to keep that number, and then when he saw we got our numbers assigned in spring training and I had 93, he was very jealous (smile). I didn’t know that I was gonna keep it if I got called up, but here we are.

Q: What would you tell Yankees fans about Spencer Jones?

A: I’d tell ’em he’s just an awesome guy. He’s a great friend of mine. Definitely has the makeup and the ability to play on this stage, and I’m excited for when he gets here.

Q: If you could test your skills against any pitcher in MLB history, who would it be?

A: I would love to face Nolan Ryan. Someone who throws gas and is not afraid to challenge you with their fastball.

Q: One pitcher in MLB history you would have liked to catch?

A: I would want to catch Greg Maddux. He just had just crazy movement and was able to locate so well. I feel like he’d be a really cool guy to catch.

Q: What is the biggest adversity or obstacle overcome?

A: Definitely the pandemic. I wouldn’t have been able to get through that adversity without some help along the way. Most importantly the Futures League was able to put on a season for us in the summer of 2020, and I was able to put together a good season in front of some scouts. And then, what was a little bit more challenging was finding ways to play and get exposed to scouts in the following fall and spring in 2021 leading up to the draft, because I knew I was likely not gonna be having a spring season ’cause the Ivy League canceled. So kind of like working together with some of my Ivy League peers, my teammates, and kind of like just fighting to find ways to play in kind of like an unorganized, unofficial environment and get seen by scouts, and kind of take ownership of my career and advocate for myself, which was huge.

Q: Favorite Little League memory?

A: I remember hitting a home run in one of our in-town All-Star games one year. There’s one day that I always remember, we had a tournament on Cape Cod [Mass.] where my Little League team played like four or five games in one day, we ended up losing in the championship in this tournament, but I feel like it was just like the epitome of Little League baseball, like wearing the same uniform for like 10-plus hours all day, playing six-inning games, nail-biters, had some clutch plays, big hits. … We had a really fun Little League team.

Q: What was the name of it?

A: Cohasset [Mass.]. It’s my town team.

Q: Favorite Worcester Bravehearts memory?

A: Probably winning the championship in 2019. That was a really fun year. That was the first year I played for ‘em. Also the home run derbies were really fun.

Q: Tell me about beatbox.

A: (Laugh) Yeah, I self-taught myself how to beatbox. I did a lot of it when I broke my foot when I was in like sixth grade and I was really bored. I was just sitting around, so I learned how to do it. I did it at my talent show in sixth grade as well. I don’t really do it anymore, but (laugh) it’s a funny little hidden talent.

Q: What is the first thing that you had to pack in your car?

A: Coming to the minors I’d need to make sure that I have my Xbox and my computer monitor with me, just because me and my friends are always playing “Fortnite” together. It’s my way to keep in touch with my buddies.

Q: What about a dish rack?

A: (Laugh) That too. It’s funny you mention that. That’s honestly the MVP of my belongings. It’s sitting in my car right now. I make sure to always bring that with me, because a lot of the places I stay there’s nowhere to [let] your dishes dry, pot and pans, things like that. I always carry the same one around that I bought like a couple of years ago (chuckle). It’s been a lifesaver.

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Q: What is it like living in a hotel?

A: It’s fine. Obviously they treat us well here. I get to stay in some nice places, so I don’t mind it right now. I’m working on finding kind of like a more normal environment to stay, like an apartment or something.

Q: Are you recognized around town yet?

A: Not yet, not yet (smile). I think I’ve blended in. But that’ll be pretty funny if that starts happening.

Q: Three dinner guests?

A: I’m just gonna go with some of the GOATs of sports … Wayne Gretzky, Jeter, Tom Brady.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: “Good Will Hunting.”

Q: Favorite actor?

A: Christian Bale.

Q: Favorite actress?

A: Jennifer Lawrence.

Q: Favorite singer/entertainer?

A: Kid Cudi.

Q: Favorite meal?

A: My dad’s pancakes.

Q: You call them Dancakes?

A: (Smile) That’s right.

Q: What’s so special about them?

A: (Laugh) The secret ingredient in them is sour cream. It just makes ’em really like fluffy and gooey, they just melt in your mouth. Unbelievable.

Q: Describe putting on the pinstripes for the first time.

A: That uni fits good (laugh).

Q: What do you think of the Bleacher Creatures?

A: Love it. Love it. I love the energy they bring. I really enjoy doing the Roll Call, so it’s fun.

Q: Goals?

A: Just stay consistent and just keep playing to my strengths.

Q: A message for Yankees fans?

A: I hope they enjoy watching me enjoy the game.

Q: You speak often about having fun.

A: That’s priority number one.

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