Yankees Name Balkovec First Female (Minor League) Manager in Professional Baseball
The New York Yankees made history Sunday when word came down that the club named Rachel Balkovec its new manager for Low-A Tampa this season, making her the first female manager in professional baseball.
Rachel Balkovec will become the next manager of the Low A Tampa Tarpons, per @lindseyadler
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) January 10, 2022
She will be the first woman to manage a minor league baseball team 🙌 pic.twitter.com/CmfI1KY6Is
According to the Athletic, Balckovec has been with the Yankees since 2019 as a minor league hitting instructor. The 34-year old Balkovec, who was a softball catcher at New Mexico and Creighton worked with the St. Louis Cardinals from 2011-15 as a strength and conditioning coach.
In recent years women are taking more of a prominent role in Major League Baseball jobs. Kim Ng, a former Yankees executive, has been the General Manager of the Miami Marlins for well over a year, and is heading into her second season at the helm.
There are 23 female coaches in Major League Baseball currently. Some notable names include Alyssa Nakken, who became the first full time female coach in Major League Baseball when she was hired in 2020 as an assistant on the San Francisco Giants staff. Bianca Smith, is a minor league instructor with the Boston Red Sox and the first African American woman to serve as a professional baseball coach.
