Freddie Freeman Had One Thing to Say to Ben Rice After the Derby Crowd Let Him Have It

Ben Rice got booed at the Home Run Derby. Not just a little. The kind of reception that makes you stop and think, wait, did I do something wrong here? He didn’t, by the way. He just plays for the Yankees, and the crowd at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia was doing what Philly crowds do.

Rice took it in stride. The guy actually called it cool. “They don’t boo nobodies,” he told reporters after Monday night, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, which is probably the most professional way to spin getting roasted during your introduction. He said the noise carried into the first round too, which, honestly, might have been the only highlight of his night.

Because the Derby itself? Not great for Rice. He hit seven home runs in the opening round. That was last place. Seven homers in a field where Jordan Walker put up 13 in the first round alone. Yeah, it wasn’t close.

But before the All-Star Game on Tuesday, Freddie Freeman walked up to Rice during an MLB Network segment and basically said what everyone was thinking. “Quite a bit of boos for you last night.” The kid laughed. Freeman laughed. It was a moment.

Freeman knows the feeling. Rice is learning it.

Freeman has been around long enough — this was his 10th All-Star appearance — to know that a little noise from the stands doesn’t mean anything personal. He wasn’t in the Derby this year, but he’s been in enough big moments to know that Philly fans don’t discriminate. They’ll boo a Yankee rookie just as happily as they’ll boo a superstar on the Dodgers.

Rice didn’t use it as fuel, apparently. The seven homers he hit were the fewest of anyone in the first round. Maybe the boos got in his head. Maybe he just had an off night. Either way, he’s got a story to tell now.

Walker ended up winning the whole thing. The Cardinals’ rookie beat Kyle Schwarber 12-1 in the final round after making it through a semifinal against Junior Caminero. Schwarber was the hometown favorite — he’s a Phillie — and he still got outhit by a guy half his age. That’s how the Derby goes sometimes.

As for Rice, he’s got time. He’s a Yankee, he’s young, and he’s already learned that the boos don’t really mean anything until you can’t hit a fastball. And even then, it’s just noise.