Smith says she hopes her new role will “inspire other women who are interested in this game.”
The Boston Red Sox announced Monday that they have hired Bianca Smith as a Minor League coach, making her the first Black woman to coach in professional baseball history. Smith,29, is currently the assistant coach and hitting coordinator at Carroll University in Wisconsin. Prior to stepping into this role, she worked at Case Western University as director of baseball operations from 2017 to 2018, before serving as an assistant coach at the University of Dallas for a short stint, reports MLB.com. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Smith played softball in college and previously interned in the baseball operations department for the Texas Rangers and the Cincinnati Reds. “The opportunity is amazing,” Smith told MLB Network’s Hot Stove program in regards to her new position. “I’m still wrapping my head around it. I probably won’t really have it sink in until I’m actually there.” Smith’s hiring comes just months after the Miami Marlins hired longtime baseball executive Kim Ng as their general manager, making her Major League Baseball’s first female GM.
