The New York Yankees made a landmark hire by making Rachel Balkovec the first female manager in affiliated professional baseball with their Low-A team the Tampa Tarpons, according to the Athletic.
The male dominated field has had little breakthrough in hiring women in prominent roles. Just a year ago Kim Ng began to pave the way for other women in the MLB as she was named the first general manager in the MLB. Balkovec has followed in her footsteps and cited her as an inspiration to her aspirations in the MLB.
It was no easy task for Balkovec to break the glass ceiling in obtaining her new role, which was announced on Jan. 12. She initially started her pro baseball career ten years ago as a strength and conditioning coach with a minor affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. She continued to slowly work her way up as she worked for the Houston Astros and with Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks. Eventually the 34-year-old was able to get to her current historical role.
Balkovec’s new role will include running the clubhouse in Tampa and overseeing the development of future big leaguers in one of the most notable and competitive leagues. She must command the respect of her team and while others speculate about her ability to do so as a woman, she has little hesitation.
“The players that I’ve worked with, whether they like me, they don’t like me, they like what I’m saying, they don’t like what I’m saying, I do feel like they respect me,” she told VOA news.
When she was introduced by the Yankees she began to receive some negativity online, according to VOA news. However, she has not let this discourage her, rather she finds it humorous.
“It’s hilarious to me,’ Balkovec said, “because it’s the American dream.”
Balkovec has had her fair share of trials to get to this point so she works hard to not let those discourage her or get in her way. Working to get the first role ever for her gender was no easy task and she had no misconceptions.
“My mom always used to say, life’s not fair,” she told the Associated Press. “So is it fair? No. Does it matter? No. You have to keep standing at that door banging on it.”
