Meet New BlueClaws OF Bill Rice
The 22-year-old Sewell, NJ native led Washington Township High School to the 2006 NJ State Group 4 championship and attended three different colleges (University of Maryland, Gloucester Community College, and USC-Aiken) before the Philadelphia Phillies signed him as an undrafted free agent following his junior year in 2010. After participating in a pre-draft tryout in Cincinnati, Rice drew the attention of Phillies scouts during an open tryout at Lakewood's own FirstEnergy Park.
The fact that he was even remembered, let alone signed, after the tryout is incredibly rare. Even his father was skeptical that he would catch someone's eye: "My dad just looked over at me and said, 'People never get taken out of here.'"
What's even stranger is that initially, Rice had no idea it was an open tryout. He had heard about it from a friend, who told him it was going to be a personal tryout - just him and maybe a couple other players. Rice was shocked to find hundreds of other players vying for the attention of major league scouts. Despite this unpleasant surprise, the 5'11'' outfielder gave it his all on the field and impressed the Phillies scouts with his swing and speed on the base path.
"I just went out and did my best and hoped that something would fall into place," says Rice. He was then signed by the club to a minor league contract and sent to their Gulf Coast League team in Clearwater, FL - the next step on his unexpected journey to Lakewood.
Despite being a 20-hour drive from his New Jersey home, Rice was unaffected by the distance.
"I didn't even think about being away from home," says Bill. Not only was he used to the distance after attending college 10 hours away from home, he was also having too much fun to really mind it. The simple fact that he was now part of the Phillies organization was enough to keep Rice's mind focused solely on baseball and away from his friends and family back home. And with good reason: who wouldn't be excited about playing everyday for the club you adored as a kid?
After a solid year for the GCL Phillies in which he batted .306 with 11 hits in 11 games, Rice joined the BlueClaws on July 17th.
Rice was not only excited about moving up in the organization, but also being much closer to home.
"I was excited that my dad wouldn't have to listen to my mom yell at him for going all the way to Florida to watch me play," says Rice. In addition to more frequent game visits from his family and friends, he also noticed an increasingly Phillie-friendly atmosphere. "Phillies games are always on (in the locker room) and everyone's always rooting for them", he said.
A common theme in the still-early career of Bill Rice is adaptation, an ability that has helped him greatly in his first few games as a BlueClaw. In his first appearance at FirstEnergy Park on July 21, he served as a pinch-runner and ended up scoring the game-winning run off Miguel Alvarez' walk-off single. On July 23rd, he pinch-hit an opposite-field single on the first pitch. He got another hit on the very first pitch during a July 24th win against Augusta.
"The first pitch looked like it was 1,000 miles an hour," says Bill, "I got lucky and he threw me an outside fastball and it was the perfect speed for me to hit right through the hole".
When asked what he wanted people to think when they see Bill Rice play, the youngster gave an answer that perfectly embodies his style of play: "I want people to say, 'man that kid looks like he wants to be on the baseball field'".
As for his goals for the rest of the season, Rice stated, "I want to go about every play, leave everything on the field." His willingness to do whatever the team asks of him in order to win games is what makes Rice such a valuable player to an organization like the BlueClaws: "I want to be able to help the team win, whether it's from the bench late in games or all the way through".
Based on his unparalleled enthusiasm and unexpected performance so far this year, it's safe to assume that we will be seeing a lot more of the New Jersey native.
Most minor leaguers have only one thing in mind: furthering their own career by moving up to the next level. While Bill Rice shares this goal, he also realizes how fortunate he is to be playing every day for the Phillies organization, especially considering the tumultuous path he took to get there. Bill Rice is living the dream, one day at a time.
NOTE: Rice was part of a 2010 tryout camp at FirstEnergy Park and is the second BlueClaw (Bill Kirk of the 2006 BlueClaws) who signed out of Lakewood's tryout camp. Current Phillies minor leaguer Jim Birmingham (GCL Phillies) signed out of this year's tryout camp.
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