Wake Forest Athletics
Getting to Know: Mark Rhine
3/28/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 28, 2012
A junior from Orefield, Pa., Mark Rhine is hitting .284 with 10 RBIs and five doubles so far this season. He has also been very sharp in the field, committing just two errors in 22 games and 19 starts. WakeForestSports.com' Maggie Cancelosi sat down with Rhine to discuss the competition in the ACC, being a diehard Philadelphia Phillies fan and why he owns up to 75 baseball caps.
Q: You just played the No. 6 team in the country (FSU) and really came through in the series finale, 7-5. Were you pleased with how you personally played and how the team played?
A: For the most part, it was a pretty good weekend for both me and the team. The team, first of all, had some tough breaks the first two days but played them really tough. Florida State is a really good ball club, but we feel like we were just as good, and we knew that we were one hit away from winning the series. We went into Sunday's game with a lot of confidence and knowing that we could play with them, and we came out early, played well, and ended up holding on for the victory which was really nice. On a personal level, I just tried to do what I could to help the team, and I think I did a pretty decent job of that.
Q: Do you think that the rain and weather delays challenged the mental toughness of the team?
A: Absolutely. The thing about the weather, at least at our field with the turf, is it has been a lot easier since my freshman year with the grass and the dirt surface - it would have been impossible for us to play all weekend, really. Staying in the game and having a game be suspended until the next day is difficult to keep your mind focused and remember that you still have three innings of this other game to go. This isn't a brand new day, you have to pick up where you left off. I think we did a pretty decent job of that - we took that first game into extra innings, and came out ready to play. They just were a little bit tougher at the end of the day. You can't ever control the weather, and it's just a matter of trying to be as focused as possible.
Q: In the national rankings as of March 19, there were five ACC teams ranked Top 30 in the country. Who will be your toughest competition for the remainder of the ACC season?
A: I think there are just so many good ones with good pitching and hitting teams, but I would definitely say that North Carolina this weekend is going to be pretty difficult because it's an in-state rivalry and they're Top 5 in the country. I would say Virginia the following weekend. The next two weekends are tough, and then a little bit later on, Miami will be a tough series for us. There are no cupcake weekends for us -they're all going to be tough, and if we don't bring our A-game every game, we have a chance to lose.
Q: I've been told that you're a great basketball player, and considered playing at the Division I level. What schools were looking at you for basketball, and what ultimately made you decide to play baseball instead?
A: Well, the recruiting process for basketball ended kind of early for me. I played all the way through high school and had some letters and a couple of phone calls to my high school coach during my junior year. He came up and asked me about my plans. I told him that I wanted to play baseball, but basketball has always been a love of mine. I still play it to this day, but it was a pretty easy decision, and having the opportunity to participate in the ACC would never have happened for me in basketball.
Q: Does the baseball team like to play any pranks, and if so, do you pull them on each other or your coaches?
A: We've been known to pull a couple of pranks, but this year more than any year. It's a really tight-knit group of guys, which is great. It's been the best in my three years, so whenever there are pranks, there aren't any hard feelings or ill will against anyone in particular. It's a light atmosphere.
Q: What is your all-time favorite sports or baseball movie?
A: Well my favorite sports movie is actually a basketball movie. It's Hoosiers. Down the street we have a public library, and I would ask my mom every week to drive me there when I was seven years old to rent it. I would just watch it non-stop on weekends. I love the movie, and that was where I first got my love of basketball and competition itself. I would say that my favorite baseball movie would probably be The Rookie.
Q: Would you rather root for a specific MLB team or individual players?
A: I am die-hard fan of the Philadelphia Phillies. In my senior year of high school, I had an internship with them doing advertising, media relations and just getting experience. I follow the Phillies non-stop. I know everything about every player. I read the injury updates. I live and die by how the Phillies do, so they've always been a love of mine. As for players, I like whoever the Phillies pick up, and I respect whoever leaves and I wish them well. Other than that, I've always been a big Derek Jeter fan.
Q: Do you think that it would be tough to play in the tough Philadelphia sports atmosphere?
A: Absolutely. It's ruthless, and I will admit that. I've been around it, and I try as an athlete to feel for them. Men and women in the stands are just yelling and booing at players that miss a ground ball or strike out, saying that they're terrible and don't know what they're doing. I just think to myself, at Wake, I do the same stuff, and I don't hear anything about it, but these guys are hearing from 40,000 fans.
Q: Do you play fantasy baseball or are you too busy in-season?
A: There are a couple of guys trying to set up a fantasy baseball league. I've never really gotten into it, because it's such a long season. I always do fantasy football, and because it's just within the fall, it's a lot easier to do. From an individual perspective of fantasy baseball, it's during the school baseball season, summer ball and fall ball, and you just have so many other things going on that it's tough. If a bunch of guys do it this year, I'll absolutely do it.
Q: What is the best sporting event that you've ever attended?
A: Game 6 of the 2008 World Series when the Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays. I was sitting down the right field line, and it was probably 20 degrees out and raining. The game had been suspended due to bad weather and they picked it up a couple days later. I was out of town for the beginning of Game 6, but I ended up going to the continuation. I think they picked it up in the 7th inning, very similar with us against Florida State the other day, so I went to that game and it was just surreal. It was an unbelievable experience. I stayed after the game and just watched everything and soaked it all in.
Q: Did you cry?
A: I didn't cry. I'm not a big crier, but that sporting event and the Phillies winning the championship - just because of Philadelphia with all of those years being so close with the Eagles and the Flyers and all of these teams that have come so close - was as close that I've been in a sporting event in my life and to this day.
Q: Which would you rather do--meet Bud Selig for a day, or actually serve as the MLB Commissioner yourself?
A: That's a tough question, but I would probably rather be the Commissioner. As tough as that sounds and as tough of a job that he has, I think that it would be pretty neat to get my hands in on some things--not necessarily change anything because I'm obviously not qualified to do that, but to just tweak a couple of things that I disagree with to make them a bit more appealing.
Q: Do you think that a salary cap should be instituted instead of a luxury tax?
A: I have mixed feelings on it. I just think that whatever's best for equal competition is best for the league. I think that the way that the Yankees, Red Sox and even the Phillies are, it's tough for some of the smaller market teams who haven't been all that successful in the past couple of years. They're losing their players to high market teams. If you're creating a league that has equal competition throughout, good pennant races down the stretch and teams that aren't 30 games out come the beginning of September, I think it would be a lot more fun to follow for fans and you would create a fan base rooting for your hometown team
Q: How many baseball caps have you accumulated throughout the years?
A: I would say upwards of 75. If you think about it, at Wake we probably get 2-3 hats a year, so that's nine right there. I've probably played on four or five travel teams since the age of nine, and we got a new hat every year, and some years I played on more than one team. With summer baseball, I've played on two teams, one of which had two hats, so it's probably close to that. It's a ton. I couldn't tell you where they all are, but I know that there are a lot of them.
Q: What has been the highlight of your collegiate baseball career?
A: I would say that the highlight of my career so far has been making the ACC Tournament last year. It was just neat to be there and play in a tournament with such good teams. I felt that we really deserved it. Down the stretch last year, we played really well and made a strong push and made it. We got some good experience, which was great for a lot of the younger guys on our team last year. In the same breath, I realized that in the future, we have a lot of bright things ahead of us, and I'm hoping that this year is it where we can get to the ACC Tournament, get to a Regional and just continue on. Whenever you play in any postseason, it makes you realize that all of the work that you put in was worth it.
Q: Do you always want baseball to be a part of your life by either continuing to play after college, coaching, scouting, etc.?
A: That would be a definite goal of mine to stay in either baseball or sports in some capacity. My internship with the Phillies was a great experience to have my hands on things that go on behind the scenes. If I could stay in the game, I would love it. Whether that's working for a professional franchise or coaching, it just depends on where the chips fall and what opportunities present themselves after college.
Q: Do you get tired of hitting the road or do you like the change of environment to keep you and the team on your toes?
A: It's really neat to go to all of the different places in the ACC on the road. There are a lot of great stadiums and fan bases. The majority of teams in the ACC have unbelievable fans, and it makes for a great atmosphere. That also makes it a tough atmosphere to play in, because you're constantly getting rooted against--not necessarily like they're booing you like Philadelphia fans, but if you do something well, you're not hearing the fans behind you as much. Then again, with playing at home, you can't beat hitting in the bottom half of the 9th inning. Our fan base is starting to increase as we're playing better, so that's something that we're excited about. At the end, I love playing here because you wake up, grab breakfast, drive over, hit in the shack, and it's comfortable - almost like a routine. When you're on the road, you don't have the same luxuries that you have at home.
