Red Sox hire Bianca Smith, first Black female professional baseball coach

(Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

By Hanna Park

(BOSTON) The Boston Red Sox announced late Monday that Bianca Smith would make history as the first Black woman to coach in professional baseball.

Smith, 29, will serve as a minor league coach based in the club’s player development facility in Fort Myers, Fla., and work mainly with position players, according to MLB.com.

Boston Globe first reported on Smith last week, but the team officially acknowledged the new hire Monday evening on Twitter.

“The opportunity is amazing,” Smith said in an interview with MLB Network’s "Hot Stove" on Monday. “I’m still wrapping my head around it. I probably won’t really have it sink in until I’m actually there.

"I think it’s a great opportunity also to kind of inspire other women who are interested in this game. This is not really something I thought about it when I was younger. I kind of fell into it being an athlete. So I’m excited to get that chance to show what I can do.”

The former Dartmouth College softball player and sociology major graduated in 2012, according to her online bio.

She is currently the assistant baseball coach and hitting coordinator at Carroll University, a role held since 2018. Previously, she worked at Case Western Reserve University as director of baseball operations from 2013 to 2017 and had a stint as an assistant coach at the University of Dallas the following year.

Female coaches have been making strides in other sports leagues as well.

The Miami Marlins named Kim Ng their new general manager, making her the first woman and Asian American to hold that title in any of the four major sports leagues.

Becky Hammon also made history last week by becoming the first woman to act as head coach during a regular-season NBA game.

Follow me to see more articles like this.

...

Follow