Yankees' Ben Rice, with father pitching, comes up short in Home Run Derby

PHILADELPHIA -- Ben Rice had yet to take a swing in Monday night’s Home Run Derby, but with his father, Dan, scheduled to be his BP pitcher, the event at Citizens Bank Park was pretty much a W anyway as far as the Yankees’ slugger was concerned.

“It’s already a success that I’m in it,” Rice said Monday afternoon. “It’s a can’t-lose mentality for us. We’re just going to go out there and enjoy ourselves. Hopefully I hit a bunch of homers. Hopefully we win it. But if not, it was a success because my Dad and I got to do it.”

The Rice duo came up short in the first round, as Ben finished with only seven home runs -- the fewest in the first round (Bryce Harper was next with eight). Hometown hero Kyle Schwarber repeatedly spiked the sellout crowd’s decibel levels by mashing his way into the finals, but it was the Cardinals’ Jordan Walker who hit what amounted to a dramatic walk-off winner, going deep on his 15th and final swing to take the crown, 13-12.

Rice certainly earned his Derby spot, bashing MLB’s third-most homers (29) in the first half, behind only Schwarber (32) and Yordan Alvarez (31). But Rice sounded a little unprepared for the adrenaline rush when he took the stage, first stepping into the boxing ring with the other entrants during the intros and then once the Derby began.

“I didn’t realize how out front my first swings were going to be,” said Rice, who didn’t go deep until his fifth one. “I was in the cage and I was like, I’m going to hit 20 home runs. I’m on fire right now. And then I took my first [swing], and I was like, Oh my God, I am going so fast right now. So I just had to figure out a way to slow down.”

The other part that took him by surprise? The thunderous boos directed at him from the 43,863 fans -- the vast majority being pro-Phillies, of course.

“The boos were crazy,” Rice said. “Especially in the opening ceremony, it was so cool. I always liked the saying, they don’t boo nobodies. So it was really cool to just hear them rain down on me. Even in the first round, too. It was fun. Definitely something I’ll never forget.”

As for his father Dan, nobody else could match his qualifications for the Derby gig, as he’s thrown more pitches to Ben during his lifetime than anyone else on the planet. That included a few practice sessions in the Bronx and over the weekend at Nationals Park in D.C. As any proud father would, Dan - a 63-year-old lawyer who pitched at Brown University -- happened to take note that Ben has been mashing (11-for-26, 5 HRs, 12 RBIs) in the seven games since that first BP together at Yankee Stadium.

“I’d like to think it helped Ben,” Dan said Monday afternoon. “Because after we had that first one, he sort of went on a little bit of a tear. A lot of people seem to think that this Home Run Derby stuff is bad. First of all, it’s fun to step on the field at a major-league ballpark, but it’s really fun to hear your kid hit one hard and have it rattle around in the seats. That’s a sound I wish everybody could hear.”

Rice was the eighth different Yankee to participate in the Derby, with four winning the event: Aaron Judge (2017), Robinson Cano (’11), Jason Giambi (’02) and Tino Martinez (1997). Rice couldn’t make it out of the first round Monday night, but sharing it with his dad make the Derby an unforgettable experience.

“I think we embraced every bit of it,” Rice said. “Just had a blast.”

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.