Yankees' Ben Rice, his father and their lifetime of batting practice together led them to Home Run Derby
Yankees' Ben Rice celebrates his solo home run as he round the bases during the first inning against the Nationals on Friday in Washington, D.C. Credit: AP/Nick Wass
Ben Rice and his father, Dan, made a pit stop in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont, on their way back home. They were returning from a hockey tournament in Montreal, and at the time, Ben was about 10 years old.
Ben frequently played summer hockey tournaments in Canada with the Boston Junior Bruins, but he always brought baseball equipment. This time, with Dan’s father, Gordy, tagging along, it was no different, as the car was stocked with baseballs, bats and a portable L-screen.
Once they got to Saint Johnsbury, Dan used MapQuest to find the nearest baseball field, something they frequently did during Ben’s hockey tournaments. Once they found one, it was a father and son doing what they loved most — pitching and hitting.
“There was no end game as part of any of this,” Dan told Newsday in a phone interview. “It's just we love baseball, and the kid loved to hit, and I love to throw. It was fun.”
Yankees' Ben Rice, left, with his father Dan Rice, when Ben was playing youth baseball in Cohasset, Mass. Credit: Dan Rice
Whether it be on the cul-de-sac near their house in Cohasset, Massachusetts, random fields on road trips or at Yankee Stadium, Dan throwing Ben batting practice has been a constant in their lives. When the Yankees’ 25-year-old first baseman competes in the Home Run Derby on Monday, they’ll add Citizens Bank Park to the list of places where Dan has pitched to him.
Dan, a 63-year-old lawyer who pitched for Brown University from 1983-86, said it’s an experience he will savor for the rest of his life. Ben — who was named an All-Star for the first time, has a career-high 29 home runs (the third-most in Major League Baseball) and is on a 50-homer pace — is looking forward to sharing the moment with his father.
“Just enjoying being out there on the field with my dad,” Ben said about what he’s most looking forward to in the Derby. “He always throws to me in the offseason too, still. His lifetime pitch count is through the roof at this point, so we’ll keep adding to that total on Monday.”
When the Yankees had an off day last week, Dan said the maintenance crew at Yankee Stadium let him throw batting practice to Ben. He mentioned it was “a little bit of a test run” before Ben officially announced he’d participate in the Derby.
Dan said he isn’t feeling any pressure; he’s more focused on setting Ben up for success. Dan said his wife, Sophie; oldest son, Sam; daughter, Sarah, and Ben’s fiancee, Amanda, will be in attendance Monday.
“I actually really am not thinking about that,” Dan said of what will be a packed Citizens Bank Park. “I'm just throwing baseballs to Ben. I just hope I give him a bunch of good pitches he can knock out of there, because if they're good pitches, he will knock them out.”
Family ties
Dan originally bought an L-screen because Sam hit him in the eye with a comebacker. While it hurt in the moment, pitching to Sam — who graduated in 2019 from the University of Tennessee, where he was a swimmer — and Ben was something Dan had always dreamed about.
“My dad always threw BP to me way back when he was one of the few guys who had the big bag of balls, and we'd go down to a field and hit,” Dan said. “So I couldn't wait to do that with my kids.”
As soon as Ben picked up a bat — which, like his father, he did lefthanded despite throwing righthanded — Dan said he began pitching to him. Once Ben progressed to hitting baseballs, they moved from the cul-de-sac near their house to the Cohasset Little League fields.
Ben also played hockey until he graduated from high school, but it never stopped the father and son from finding a baseball field. Between hockey tournament games, either in Canada or the United States, Dan said they always found a field where Ben could hit.
“I don't know if it was important,” Dan said of making time for baseball during hockey tournaments. “It's just that we loved to do it.”
As Ben got older, they found bigger fields. Dan said they ventured all over, but he named Hingham High School and Scituate High School as two that he remembers.
Yankees' Ben Rice, left, with his father, Dan Rice, at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Credit: Dan Rice
Coaching Ben at the Noble & Greenough School — which is where Dan also went to high school — Rob Murray got a firsthand look at the work the father and son put in together.
“Nothing was given to [Ben] in this whole process,” Murray said. “This is something that he has really worked his butt off to get, and Dan has been front and center of it as well.”
While Ben landed a scholarship to play baseball for Dartmouth, Murray described him as a late bloomer in high school who continuously improved. Dan was by his side each step of the way, simply because he and his son loved pitching and hitting.
Now it’s bringing them to one of baseball’s biggest stages together.
“It's just something I loved to do with my dad and love to do with my boys,” Dan said, “and to be able to do this at the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby? Wow, unreal.”
Business as usual
The scene is what Dan described as the “most beautiful thing in America.” After Ben finished playing in the Futures League in 2020 — one of the rare summer leagues that wasn’t canceled by COVID-19 — the Rice family, as they have many times, vacationed in Chatham.
Chatham’s Veterans Field is where the Cape Cod Baseball League’s Chatham Anglers typically play in the summer, so Dan and Ben went there to hit. Two boys, a father and a grandfather had the same idea, and the Rices — accompanied by two big bags with baseballs — asked if they could join them.
After watching Ben destroy pitches toward the road and the fire department beyond the rightfield wall, Dan remembers the family telling them they had to tell Yankees scout Matt Hyde — whom they knew — about Ben.
At that point, Hyde, the scout who helped the Yankees identify Ben and All-Star pitcher Cam Schlittler, already had been in contact with the Rices. During the pandemic, Dan said he and Ben had nothing else to do but go hit, which helped Ben stay ready once he began breaking out in the Futures League after the Ivy League season was canceled.
“Matt Hyde saw me throw to Ben,” Dan said. “It was our routine; he liked it.”
A year later, Ben was selected in the 12th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Yankees. He tore through minor-league pitching during the next three years, earning a call-up to the majors in June 2024.
He struggled during his first taste of MLB pitching, hitting .171 in 152 at-bats, but broke out with 26 homers and 65 RBIs in 2025 while establishing himself as a key threat in the heart of the Yankees’ order. He had a .255/.337/.499 slash line and an .836 OPS.
He’s taken it to another level in 2026, topping his 2025 home run total by three and exceeding his RBI total by one in 49 fewer games. He has a .275/.366/.595 slash line and an outstanding .961 OPS. His 163 weighted runs created plus is the third-best in MLB, trailing only Yordan Alvarez and Juan Soto. Entering Saturday, he was 8-for-20 with five homers and 10 RBIs in his last five games.
It's safe to say he’s ready for Monday night.
“I haven’t really thought about strategy,” Ben said. “I just kind of want to enjoy it. Just have fun taking BP with my dad at a big-league field in front of a bunch of people. It should be cool.”
Alongside superstars such as Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Junior Caminero, Ben and Dan will be under a bright spotlight.
But at its core, just as it was in Saint Johnsbury, Monday will feature a father and son doing what they love most.
Newsday’s Erik Boland contributed to this story.
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