View source for Sam Rice

{{Short description|American baseball player (1890–1974)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
| name        = Sam Rice
| position    = [[Outfielder]]
| image       = Sam Rice.jpg
| caption     = Rice in 1924
| bats        = Left
| throws      = Right
| birth_date  = February 20, 1890
| birth_place = [[Morocco, Indiana]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1974|10|13|1890|2|20}}
| death_place = [[Leisure World, Maryland|Rossmoor, Maryland]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
| debutdate   = August 7
| debutyear   = 1915
| debutteam   = Washington Senators
|finalleague = MLB
| finaldate   = September 18
| finalyear   = 1934
| finalteam   = Cleveland Indians
|statleague = MLB
| stat1label  = [[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
| stat1value  = .322
| stat2label  = [[Hit (baseball)|Hits]]
| stat2value  = 2,987
| stat3label  = [[Home run]]s
| stat3value  = 34
| stat4label  = [[Runs batted in]]
| stat4value  = 1,078
| teams       = 
* [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] ({{mlby|1915}}–{{mlby|1933}})
* [[Cleveland Indians]] ({{mlby|1934}})
| highlights = 
*[[World Series champion]] ({{wsy|1924}})
*[[List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders|AL stolen base leader]] (1920)
* [[Washington Nationals#Ring of Honor|Washington Nationals Ring of Honor]] 
|hoflink = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
|hoftype = National
| hofdate = [[1963 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1963]]
| hofmethod = Veterans Committee
}}
'''Edgar Charles''' "'''Sam'''" '''Rice''' (February 20, 1890 – October 13, 1974) was an American [[pitcher]] and [[outfielder]] 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 (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] from {{baseball year|1915}} until {{baseball year|1933}}, he was regularly among the [[American League]] leaders in [[run (baseball)|runs scored]], [[hit (baseball)|hits]], [[stolen base]]s and [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]]. He led the Senators to three postseasons and a [[World Series]] championship in [[1924 World Series|1924]]. He batted left-handed but threw right-handed. Rice played his final year, {{baseball year|1934}}, for the [[Cleveland Indians]]. He was elected to the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1963.

Rice was best known for making a controversial catch in the [[1925 World Series]] which carried him over the fence and into the stands. While he was alive, Rice maintained a sense of mystery around the catch, which had been ruled an out. He wrote a letter that was only opened after his 1974 death; it claimed that he had maintained possession of the ball the entire time. He collected nearly 3,000 hits in his career, with his 2,889 as a Senator being the most in franchise history.

==Early life==
Rice was the first of six children born to Charles Rice and Louisa Newmyer. Charles and Louisa married about two months after his birth. He grew up in various towns near [[Morocco, Indiana]], on the Indiana-Illinois border, and considered Morocco his hometown.<ref>Carroll, p. 9.</ref> He was known as "Eddie" during his childhood. In 1908, Rice married 16-year-old Beulah Stam.<ref>Carroll, pp. 9-10.</ref> They lived in [[Watseka, Illinois]], where Rice ran the family farm, worked at several jobs in the area, and attended tryouts for various professional baseball teams.<ref>Paul Niemann, ''Red, White & True Mysteries'', [[Tooele Transcript-Bulletin]], 10 November 2011</ref>

By April 1912, Rice and his wife had two children, aged 18 months and three years. While Rice's wife cared for the children, Rice traveled to [[Galesburg, Illinois]], to play for a spot on a minor league baseball team, the [[Galesburg Pavers]] of the [[Central Association]].<ref>Carroll, p. 11.</ref> Rice spent about a week with the team, appearing in three exhibition games. In an appearance on April 21, Rice entered the game as a relief pitcher and finished the last three innings of a Pavers victory, giving up one run in a game marked by forceful winds.<ref>Carroll, pp. 11-12.</ref>

That same day, Rice's wife took their children on a day trip to the homestead of Rice's parents in Morocco, about 20 miles from Watseka. A storm arose and a tornado swept across the homestead, destroying the house and most of the outbuildings. The tornado killed Rice's wife, his two children, his mother, his two younger sisters and a farmhand. Rice's father survived for another week before also succumbing to his injuries. Rice had to attend two funerals: one for his parents and sisters, and a second for his wife and children.<ref>Carroll, pp. 12-15.</ref>

Rice played for the [[Muscatine Muskies]] of the Central Association in 1912, hitting .194 in 18 games. He did not play in 1913.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=rice--001edg|title = Sam Rice Minor Leagues Statistics & History}}</ref>

==Early baseball career==
Perhaps wracked with grief, Rice spent the next year wandering the area and working at several jobs. In 1913, he joined the [[United States Navy]] and served on the {{USS|New Hampshire|BB-25|6}}, a 16,000-ton battleship that was large enough to field a baseball team. Rice played on that team during one season.<ref>''Red, White & True''</ref> He was on the ship when it took part in the [[United States occupation of Veracruz]], Mexico.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Sam-Rice|title=Sam Rice Biography at SABR|website=sabr.org|accessdate= April 22, 2024}}</ref>

In 1914, Rice joined the [[Petersburg Goobers]] of the [[Virginia League]] as a pitcher. He compiled a 9–2 record with a 1.54 [[earned run average]] (ERA) that year, then returned in 1915, earning an 11-12 record with a 1.82 ERA.<ref name=BRMinors>{{cite web|title=Sam Rice Minor League Statistics & History|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=rice--001edg|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=December 22, 2014}}</ref> Petersburg team owner "Doc" Leigh owed a $300 debt to [[Clark Griffith]], who owned the major-league [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] at the time, and he offered Rice's contract to Griffith in payment of the debt. Leigh is credited with two acts which influenced Rice's subsequent career: he changed the player's name from "Edgar" to "Sam", and he convinced the Senators to let Rice play in the outfield instead of pitching.

==Major league career==

===First MLB seasons===
[[File:Sam Rice portrait.jpg|thumb|Sam Rice, Washington Senators, 1916]]
Rice played 19 of his 20 seasons with the Washington Senators. He appeared in only 62 total major league games in 1915 and 1916. He played 155 games in 1917, registering a .302 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] in 656 plate appearances.<ref name=BR>{{cite web|title=Sam Rice Statistics and History|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ricesa01.shtml|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=December 21, 2014}}</ref> Rice was recalled up to the army in 1918.<ref>Carroll, p. 40.</ref> He joined the 68th Coast Artillery Regiment and was stationed at [[Fort Terry]] in New York. He appeared with the Senators in a few games during two furloughs.<ref>Carroll, pp. 43-44.</ref> By September, his company was sent to France and they prepared for combat, but the men did not see any action before the signing of the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918]].<ref>Carroll, p. 47.</ref>

In 1919, Rice played in 141 games and hit .321, one of 13 seasons in which he hit at least .300. He hit .338 in 1920, recorded a league-leading and career-high 63 [[stolen base]]s and was caught stealing a league-high 30 times. In 1921, he hit 13 [[triple (baseball)|triples]], the first of ten consecutive seasons in which he finished in double digits in that category. He collected a league-high 216 [[hit (baseball)|hits]] in 1924,<ref name="baseball-reference.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ricesa01.shtml|title = Sam Rice Stats}}</ref> which culminated in Rice and the Senators winning the 1924 World Series in a dramatic 7 game series against the New York Giants.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://coffeyvillewhirlwind.wordpress.com/category/world-series/1924-world-series/|title = 1924 World Series}}</ref> Though not the league leader in 1925, Rice recorded a career-high 227 hits, 87 RBI, and a .350 batting average, career highs among his full seasons.

===The catch===
The most famous moment in Rice's career came on defense. In Game 3 of the [[1925 World Series]], the Senators were leading the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]], 4–3. In the middle of the 8th inning, Rice was moved from center field to right field. With two out in the top of the inning,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WS1/WS1192510100.shtml|title=1925 World Series Game 3, Pittsburgh Pirates at Washington Senators, October 10, 1925}}</ref> Pirate catcher [[Earl Smith (catcher)|Earl Smith]] drove a ball to right-center field. Rice ran the ball down and appeared to catch it at the fence, robbing Smith of a [[home run]] that would have tied the game. After the catch, Rice toppled over the fence and into the stands, disappearing from sight. When Rice reappeared, he had the ball in his glove and the umpire called Smith out. The umpire's explanation was that as soon as the catch was made the play was over, so it did not matter where Rice ended up. His team lost the Series in seven games.

Controversy persisted over whether Rice had actually caught the ball and whether he had kept possession of it. Some Pittsburgh fans sent signed and notarized documents claiming that they saw a fan pick up the ball and put it back in Rice's glove. Rice himself would not tell, answering only, "The umpire said I caught it." 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 when he was selected to the Hall of Fame, to be opened upon his death.<ref name=BDN/> After Rice's death, a Hall of Fame official located the letter describing his World Series play and delivered it to Rice’s family. It was opened and read after his funeral. In an interview, his wife Mary said, "He did catch it. You don't have to worry about that anymore."<ref name=BDN>{{cite news|title=Baseball Hall of Famer Sam Rice is dead at 84|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19741015&id=ZYthAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fTgHAAAAIBAJ&pg=4294,5889416|access-date=December 21, 2014|work=[[Bangor Daily News]]|date=October 15, 1974}}</ref> The letter concluded by stating, "At no time did I lose possession of the ball."<ref name=EDR>{{cite news|title=Rice claims he never lost ball|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19741105&id=S5xUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=U48DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2822,2203798|access-date=December 21, 2014|work=[[Ellensburg Daily Record]]|date=November 5, 1974}}</ref>

===Later career===
Leading the league in hits again in 1926, Rice finished fourth in the [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|Most Valuable Player Award]] voting.<ref name=BR/> His batting average dipped to .297 in 1927, but he hit .328, .323 and .349 from, respectively, the 1928 through 1930 seasons.<ref name=BR/> Though Rice hit .310 in 1931 across 120 games, [[Dave Harris (baseball)|Dave Harris]] got significant playing time when the team was facing lefthanded pitchers. The Senators also began to explore younger players for their outfield spots.<ref name=BR/><ref name=Sarasota>{{cite news|last1=Vosburgh|first1=Ted|title=Johnson leads in tribute to A's great club|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1787&dat=19310817&id=9d8cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JGQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3947,905956|access-date=December 22, 2014|work=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]]|date=August 17, 1931}}</ref>

The Senators held "Sam Rice Day" in late 1932, where the team presented him with several gifts, including a check for more than $2,200 and a new [[Studebaker]] automobile. He played only 106 games that year, often appearing as a [[pinch hitter]]. In 1933, the team returned to the World Series. Though the team lost, Rice batted once in the second game, picking up a pinch hit single.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NY1/NY1193310040.shtml|title=1933 World Series Game 2, Washington Senators at New York Giants, October 4, 1933}}</ref> The Senators released him after the season.<ref name="Fleitz2007">{{cite book|last=Fleitz|first=David L.|title=More Ghosts in the Gallery: Another Sixteen Little-Known Greats at Cooperstown|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nROXhSvZo0C&pg=PA87|access-date=December 21, 2014|date=April 3, 2007|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-8062-3|page=87}}</ref>

He played in 1934 with the [[Cleveland Indians]], then retired at the age of 44. Cleveland manager [[Walter Johnson]] talked to Rice about returning in 1935, but Rice refused.<ref name=Fleitz2007/> Rice retired with a .322 career average. He stood erect at the plate and used quick wrists to slash pitches to all fields. He never swung at the first pitch and seldom struck out, once completing a 616-at-bat season (1929) with nine strikeouts. Rice struck out only 275 times in 9,269 at-bats, or once every 33.71 at-bats, making him the 11th all-time most difficult MLB player to strike out.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://baseball-reference.com/leaders/at_bats_per_strikeout_career.shtml|title=All-Time At-Bats Per Strikeout Rankings From Baseball Reference|website=baseball-reference.com|accessdate= April 22, 2024}}</ref> He recorded six 200-hit seasons in the major leagues. As the ultimate contact man with the picture-perfect swing, Rice was never a home run threat, but his speed often turned singles into doubles, and his 1920 stolen base total of 63 earned him the timely nickname "[[Man o' War]]".

With 2,987 hits, Rice has the most hits of any player not to reach 3,000. Rice later said, "The truth of the matter is I did not even know how many hits I had. A couple of years after I quit, [Senators owner] [[Clark Griffith]] told me about it, and asked me if I'd care to have a comeback with the Senators and pick up those 13 hits. But I was out of shape, and didn't want to go through all that would have been necessary to make the effort. Nowadays, with radio and television announcers spouting records every time a player comes to bat, I would have known about my hits and probably would have stayed to make 3,000 of them."<ref>[http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/3000_hit_club/index.htm The 3,000 Hit Club]. [[Baseball Hall of Fame]]. Retrieved December 21, 2014.</ref>  In postseason play, Rice produced 19 hits and a .302 batting average.<ref name="baseball-reference.com"/>

==Career statistics==
See:[[Baseball statistics|''Career Statistics'']] for a complete explanation.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! G || AB || H || 2B || 3B || HR || R || RBI || BB || SO || AVG || OBP || SLG || FP
|-
| 2,404 || 9,269 || 2,987 || 498 || 184 || 34 || 1,514 || 1,078 || 708 || 275 || .322 || .374 || .427 || .965
|}<ref>[http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=ricesa01 Sam Rice Stats] at baseball-almanac.com</ref>
Rice accumulated 7 five-hit games and 52 four-hit games in his career.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/R/PX_rices101.htm|title=Sam Rice Top Performances At Retrosheet|website=retrosheet.org|accessdate= April 22, 2024}}</ref>

==Later life==
By the 1940s, Rice had become a poultry farmer. His farm was located in Olney, Maryland next to that of [[Harold L. Ickes]], the [[United States Secretary of the Interior]]. Rice and Ickes employed several workers of Japanese descent who were displaced from the West Coast by order of the U.S. Army after the outbreak of World War II.<ref name=PBP>{{cite news|last1=Eads|first1=Jane|title=200 Japanese-Americans work in important government jobs|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19450131&id=S3gyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q7YFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4187,1990158|access-date=December 21, 2014|work=[[The Palm Beach Post]]|date=January 31, 1945}}</ref>

Rice was inducted into the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1963. He and three other players – [[John Clarkson]], [[Elmer Flick]] and [[Eppa Rixey]] – were elected unanimously that year by the Hall of Fame's [[Veterans Committee]], which considered players who had been inactive for 20 or more years. Rice said that he was glad to be inducted and said that he thought he would probably be elected if he survived long enough.<ref name=PPG>{{cite news|title=Rixey, Sam Rice in Baseball Hall of Fame|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19630128&id=wj4NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HmwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7107,3846635|access-date=December 21, 2014|work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|date=January 28, 1963}}</ref>

Rice remarried twice, first to Edith and at age 69 to Mary Kendall Adams. Mary had two daughters by a prior marriage, Margaret and Christine.<ref>''Sports Illustrated'', August 23, 1993, Letters-  Margaret Adams Robinson. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100702022724/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1138332/index.htm]</ref> In 1965, Rice and his family were interviewed in advance of a program to honor his career. The interviewer asked Rice about the tornado, and as he told of the storm and its destruction, his wife and children learned for the first time of the existence of his previous family.<ref>"There is one thing about Edgar 'Sam' Rice that no one could dispute: He sure could keep a secret." ''Red, White & True''</ref>

Rice made one of his last public appearances at the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies honoring [[Whitey Ford]] and [[Mickey Mantle]] in August 1974. He died of cancer that year on October 13.<ref name=BDN/> He was buried in Woodside Cemetery in [[Brinklow, Maryland]].

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball}}
*[[List of Major League Baseball hit records]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
*Carroll, Jeff (2007). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ae7pAwAAQBAJ Sam Rice: A Biography of the Washington Senators Hall of Famer]''. {{ISBN|0786431199}}. McFarland.

==External links==
*{{Baseball Hall of Fame profile|rice-sam}}
*{{baseballstats |mlb= |espn= |br=r/ricesa01 |fangraphs= |brm=rice--001edg |retro=R/Prices101}}
*{{SABR Baseball Biography Project|593ed95f}}
*{{find a Grave|2192}}

{{1924 Washington Senators}}
{{AL stolen base champions}}
{{1963 Baseball HOF}}
{{Minnesota Twins HOF}}
{{Baseball Hall of Fame members}}
{{Washington Nationals Ring of Honor}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Sam}}
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Indiana]]
[[Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Washington Senators (1901–1960) players]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:Cleveland Indians players]]
[[Category:American League stolen base champions]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball right fielders]]
[[Category:Muscatine Wallopers players]]
[[Category:Petersburg Goobers players]]
[[Category:People from Newton County, Indiana]]
[[Category:People from Watseka, Illinois]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Maryland]]
[[Category:United States Navy sailors]]