Sam Rice

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Sam Rice
Sam Rice
Outfielder
Born: February 20, 1890
Morocco, Indiana
Died: October 13, 1974 (aged 84)
Rossmoor, Maryland
Batted: Left Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 7, 1915
for the Washington Senators
Final game
September 18, 1934
for the Cleveland Indians
Career statistics
Batting average     .322
Hits     2987
Runs batted in     1078
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Elected     1963
Election Method     Veteran's Committee

Edgar Charles "Sam" Rice (February 20, 1890 - October 13, 1974) was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball.

Although Rice made his debut as a relief pitcher, he is best known as an outfielder. Playing for the Washington Senators from 1915 until 1933, he was regularly among the American League leaders in runs scored, hits, stolen bases and batting average. He led the Senators to three postseasons and a World Series championship in 1924. He batted left-handed, but threw right-handed.

Rice, a lefthanded hitter and righthanded thrower, stood erect at the plate and used quick wrists to slash pitches to all fields. He never swung at the first pitch and seldom fanned, once completing a 616-at-bat season with noine strikeouts. As the ultimate contact man with the picture-perfect swing, Rice was never a home run threat. But blazing speed turned singles into doubles and his 1920 stolen base total of 63 earned him the timely nickname "Man o' War".

Rice played his final year, 1934, for the Cleveland Indians.

He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963.

Sam Rice is interred in Woodside Cemetery in Brinklow, Maryland.

Contents

[edit] Career statistics

See:Career Statistics for a complete explanation.

G AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI BB SO AVG OBP SLG
2,404 9,269 2987 498 184 34 1,514 1,078 708 275 .322 .374 .427

[edit] The catch

The most famous moment in Sam Rice's career came in defense. During game three of the 1925 World Series, the Senators were leading the game 4-3. In the bottom of the 8th inning, Sam Rice was moved from center field to right field. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Earl Smith drove a ball to right-center field. Rice ran down the ball and appeared to catch the ball at the fence, potentially robbing Smith of a home run that would have tied the game. After the catch, Rice toppled over the top of the fence and into the stands, disappearing out of sight. When Rice reappeared, he had the ball in his glove and the umpire called the batter out.

This caused great controversy on whether Rice actually caught the ball and whether he kept possession of the ball the entire time. Rice himself would not tell, only answering: "The umpire called him out," when asked. Magazines offered to pay him for the story, but Rice turned them down, saying: "I don't need the money. The mystery is more fun." He would not even tell his wife or his daughter.

The controversy became so great that Rice wrote a letter to be opened upon his death. After Sam died, the letter was opened and it contained Rice's account of what happened. At the end of the letter, he wrote: "At no time did I lose possession of the ball."

Whether he actually made the catch cleanly or not, his team ultimately lost the Series, in seven games.

[edit] Early life: tragedy

Rice grew up in various towns near Morocco, Indiana, on the Indiana-Illinois border, and considered Watseka, Illinois, his hometown. In 1912, Rice was playing with a low-level minor-league baseball team in Galesburg, Illinois, near the Iowa-Illinois border, when his wife, two children, mother and two younger siblings, along with a hired hand on the family farm, were all killed in a tornado that swept through the area. Rice's father Charles died from injuries sustained in the storm a few days later. Rice left the area shortly afterward, working various odd jobs and eventually joining the United States Navy and fighting in the ill-fated Occupation of Veracruz in Mexico. Rice never publicly revealed the family tragedy in his past. He married twice more. His daughter, Chris, is a teacher.

[edit] Other

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Rice was a scratch golfer who competed in many left-handed golfer's tournaments during and after his baseball career.
  • Rice owned a successful chicken farm in Ashton, Maryland, after his retirement from baseball, at one point making news by employing several Japanese-Americans who had previously been living at a World War II internment camp.
  • Rice served in World War I, but never saw combat there.
  • Author Jeff Carroll's full-length biography of Rice is scheduled to be published by McFarland Publications in the fall of 2007.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Preceded by
Eddie Collins		 American League Stolen Base Champion
1920		 Succeeded by
George Sisler
v • d • e
Washington Senators 1924 World Series roster
Ossie Bluege | Goose Goslin | Bucky Harris | Walter Johnson | Joe Judge | Nemo Leibold | Firpo Marberry | Joe Martina | Earl McNeely | Ralph Miller | George Mogridge | Curly Ogden | Roger Peckinpaugh | Sam Rice | Muddy Ruel | Allen Russell | Mule Shirley | By Speece | Bennie Tate | Tommy Taylor | Tom Zachary
Manager Bucky Harris
v • d • e
Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1963
BBWAA Vote
none
Veterans Committee
John Clarkson • Elmer Flick • Sam Rice • Eppa Rixey
J. G. Taylor Spink Award
Languages