New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice impressed with an unexpected skill during his rookie season—his Spanish speaking abilities. The 26-year-old from Massachusetts was able to communicate with many Spanish speaking opponents unprompted during the 2024 season, which surprised several players, including Reds All-Star Elly De La Cruz.
"Elly De La Cruz," Rice recalled, via Fireside Yankees. "Talking to him was fun. He hit a line drive at me the inning before, and I jumped up and caught it so I robbed him of a hit. Then when he got to first base ... we started talking and I started talking Spanish with him. He was just very surprised because I'm very unassuming. To speak that Dominican Spanish with him was fun."
Introducing Ben Rice’s alter ego, Ben Arroz🇪🇸
— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) March 3, 2025
Ben Rice speaking completely fluent Spanish is incredible #Yankees pic.twitter.com/H2dmPdarZb
Rice began learning Spanish back in middle school, and continued taking classes through college at Dartmouth. His ability to speak Spanish further progressed when he got to the minor leagues and got to practice the language nearly every day, which he finds particularly helpful when he plays catcher.
“You can talk to everybody,” Rice said last June, via Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. “You can be relatable, especially as a catcher talking to your pitchers. You don’t have to go up there on a mound visit and not know what to say because you can’t communicate with the guy. I think it helps me a lot.”
Though Rice doesn't find his Spanish quite as useful at first base, he still has used Spanish at the position, including with De La Cruz, who was born in the Dominican Republic.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Elly De La Cruz Was Caught Off Guard When Ben Rice Surprised Him With Perfect Spanish.
