Rachel Balkovec to become first woman to manage a minor league team
By Wayne Sterling, CNN
Rachel Balkovec will become the first woman to manage a minor league team.
Balkovec will manage the Tampa Tarpons, the New York Yankees’ Low-A affiliate, according to MLB.com. She confirmed the historic news to the website on Sunday night.
“I’m not the first woman to have a position in baseball, but I know this is a little different,” Balkovec said to MLB.com. “I’m a product of the women who have come before me in sports.
“If somebody thinks I’m a trailblazer, great, because hopefully that’s creating an opportunity to think it’s possible for [others].”
The 34-year-old was the hitting coach for the Yankees’ rookie-level Florida Complex League squad. Last year, she became the first woman to coach in an All-Star Futures Game.
CNN has reached out to the Yankees and Balkovec for comment.
In 2019, Balkovec became the first woman to be a full-time hitting coaching in a Major League Baseball organization when the Yankees hired her as a minor league hitting coaching.
Prior to joining the Yankees, the Omaha, Nebraska native worked in the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals organizations as strength and conditioning coordinator. She also interned for the Chicago White Sox.
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Balkovec played college softball at Creighton University and the University of New Mexico.
The Tarpons are scheduled to start the 2022 season at the Lakeland Flying Tigers on April 8.
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