NEW YORK – The day Ben Rice was called up to play for the Yankees, the Bronx cheered for the arrival of a new star. But amid the thousands of flashbulbs, no one knew that in Rice’s pocket, next to his glove, was an old, yellowed baseball ticket, carefully laminated like a treasure.
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The ticket belonged to Ben’s late sister – who had dreamed of seeing her brother play at Yankee Stadium, but passed away from a serious illness when Ben was 14.
“She used to say, ‘Ben, the day you play in New York, I’ll be the first one to stand and applaud,’” Rice said.
“That ticket… was the last promise between us.”
It was a ticket for the 2015 Yankees vs. Red Sox game. The Rice family bought it to celebrate Ben’s 12th birthday. But just days before the game, his sister, Emily, was hospitalized with a worsening leukemia.
Instead of going to the game, the family sat by her bedside, watching on TV with the silent hum of a ventilator. Emily kept the ticket in her hand the entire game—and never let it go again until she died.
When Ben Rice made his official debut at Yankee Stadium, he tucked the ticket in his jersey pocket. And on his first at-bat, as he stepped into the batter’s box, he placed his hand over his heart—where the ticket lay—in a loving gesture.
It wasn’t a home run. But it went far enough for Ben to cross first base. The team stood up and cheered. He didn’t smile—he just looked up.
“Sister, the ticket’s been used,” he whispered.
After the game, at a press conference, a reporter asked Rice about the ticket sticking out of his pocket.
“It’s not a good luck charm,” he replied. “It was a testament to a dream that had been lived.”
And that night, inside the Yankees locker room, Ben carefully placed the ticket in a small frame, next to his first-ever helmet. No one knew if he would wear it to future games. But for Ben, just one “she saw it” was enough.