Softball: NZ softball workhorse hangs up his Sox

By CHRIS RATTUE

The serious knee injury which wrecked Dean Rice's first World Series helped to spur him on to become one of New Zealand's greatest softballers.

The 33-year-old announced his retirement shortly after the Black Sox won the world title in South Africa this week, the victory a fitting finale for the legendary third baseman.

Rice's international career began disastrously when, as the new boy in the 1988 side, he wrecked a knee in the first warm-up game before the series in Canada.

He stayed on with the team to watch their World Series campaign and it served to increase the dedication of a softballer renowned for his relentless training.

"In a sense I look back on that injury as being a positive thing for my career," Rice said.

"Sitting there, watching, I didn't think I was good enough to play at that level. It woke me up - I needed to put in a lot more hard work.

"I've always trained pretty hard simply because I didn't have the natural talent of a lot of other players.

"With some people, you can show them something once and they can do it straight away. But that was never the case with me."

Whether that is an over-modest assessment or not from Rice, there will never be any doubting his dedication or his impact on New Zealand softball.

Some long-time observers of the game will enthusiastically declare that he has been every bit as good as the great Mark Sorenson, who is also likely to retire.

Rice became renowned for putting in long hours of training well after his team-mates had finished practice sessions.

He also pioneered the use of the slap hit into the ground in New Zealand softball. Rice first saw the technique being used by Chad Corcoran, one of the many North Americans who have played for New Zealand teams.

It suits quick-running left-handed batters such as Rice, because they can be on the way to first base as the ball leaves the bat. And rather than relying on the bunt, where the ball drops down just in front of the batter, it means the infielders are less certain where the ball is going to be aimed.

Because it was new to the New Zealand game, Rice had no one to turn to for advice, so he designed his own drills.

"I just kept at it. Persistence is the key," he said. "After learning the techniques you then start reading who is moving which way in the infield, and who are the weak infielders."

If the knee injury helped to drive Rice in his training, it was the disappointment of losing the 1992 final to Canada in Manila which helped provide the motivation to make him a vital part of two subsequent world series-winning teams.

New Zealand led the 1992 final 3-0 before a home run from Jody Hennigar, a former player with Auckland United, levelled the scores and Canada went on to win 5-3.

"We probably weren't the best team at that series but we should have won the final.

"It made a lot of us really determined," Rice said.

But Rice is no longer motivated to put his all into club softball, so he has decided to retire from all levels of the game. He may make a brief comeback next year if a Black Sox reunion tour around New Zealand can be organised.

Rice, a personal trainer, is now passing on his work ethic to students at St Paul's College. He works there morning and evening, five days a week, coaching a variety of sports.

"We've got a lot of talented kids here, but they like to play instead of train. You can't get to the top unless you know how to train," he said.

Rice may have given up the big league himself, but he will head to the Sydney Olympics to support his girlfriend of seven years, Jackie Smith, an outfielder with the White Sox.

And though he has no intention of returning to play, he will still contribute in other ways to the Marist club, where his father, Barry, played and where Rice himself first donned a glove 20 years ago.

"In a sense, it is the same situation as it is with New Zealand.

"There are very talented young guys coming through and it is time for them to have their chance," he said.

"I could still be playing well enough to go to the next World Series, but it's all or nothing. If you are not going to put everything into club softball you can't just turn up for the big tournaments.

"But, no doubt, I'll still help out at Marist. I've basically been there all my life - they're all my close friends."