First baseman Ben Rice has emerged as arguably the most important player for the 2026 New York Yankees, carrying the team’s offense amid long-term injuries from sluggers like Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton.
But on a rare day off, he deferred the spotlight to his girlfriend, Sara Falkson — a Harvard engineering graduate and founder of Robyn Athletic, a company that works to promote body confidence for women in sports.
“Her work ethic, her determination, all those things are so evident every day when I watch everything she does,” Rice, 27, exclusively told Us at the 2026 Carlos and Ashley Rodón Willow Gala, held in Brooklyn on Monday, August 24. “Working on her company and just getting through school, getting through grad school.”
He continued, “The way she helps others on a constant basis. She’s just a very special person in my life. I learn from her a lot every day.”
Rice, an Ivy League graduate himself, was smart enough to add that he “of course” would have said the same if Falkson had not been standing next to him at the moment.
Rice and Falkson met as undergraduates at Dartmouth University, where Rice played college baseball and graduated with a psychology degree in 2022. Falkson played field hockey for the Big Green, earning a degree in human-centered design before moving on to Harvard for her master’s.
Years later, the two continue to challenge each other, competing against one another in chess when Rice isn’t on the field and Falkson isn’t working.
“We’re both nerds,” Falkson told Yankees Magazine in June. “We’ve been picking up chess. I don’t want to say he’s winning, but he’s brilliant. And he beats me more often than I’d like to admit, unfortunately.”
But at the gala, their full attention was on the Rodóns and their foundation. Carlos, a veteran starting pitcher for the Yankees, and his wife, Ashley, created the foundation after their own struggles with fertility, hoping to help make treatment more affordable for families.
Carlos, 33, and Ashley now share daughter Willow, 6, and sons Bo, 5, and Silo, 3.
“It’s just a really fun night for all of us to get together and support a really special foundation that Ashley and Carlos work really hard year in and year out to put together,” Rice said.
He added that Carlos is one of the players that “embodies” the Yankees’ longheld tradition of veteran leadership.
“He’s just been such a pro,” Ride said. “He’s been doing it for a really long time at a high level. He’s a guy that a lot of our pitchers and position players look to to set the standard of how the Yankees are supposed to operate on a daily basis.”
With the final stretch of the season approaching and the Yankees near locks to reach the postseason again, Rice had a simple take for what could help the team win the World Series for the first time since 2009.
“We gotta score more runs than the other team,” he said.
