Tampa Tarpons make history on opening day with first female manager in pro-baseball
TAMPA, Fla. - Every opening day is special, but this year is historic for Major League Baseball.
Friday, for the first time in its 146-year history, a woman was at the helm of a Major League Baseball-affiliated team when Rachel Balkovec suited up as the Tampa Tarpons' manager.
The trail Balkovec blazed to get to this point was anything but easy, but the 34-year-old said it was well worth it.
"The amount of messages I’ve gotten from Yankees coaches and employees has been incredible. It’s been all angles of support," said Balkovec during her first press conference, a first for the Tampa Tarpons as well, ahead of the season opener.
Balkovec learned early on just how thick Major League Baseball's glass ceiling was when she began trying to crack in more than a decade ago.
Despite her bachelor's degree in kinesiology, master's degree in sports administration, grad work as a strength and conditioning coach at Louisiana State University and strength and a conditioning internship with the St. Louis Cardinals, Balkovec couldn't get a call back from teams.
Her phone finally began to ring when she started changing her name from 'Rachel' to 'Rae' Balkovec on applications. But, even then she received far more ‘nos.’
"Things have evolved, obviously. I was blatantly discriminated against back then and some people say not to say that, but it’s just a part of what it is and what happened. I think it’s important to say because it lets you know how much has changed," said Balkovec. "Here we are 12 years later at my first press conference as a manager, so things have changed."
Balkovec credits the Yankees with that change, but her sheer determination is what kept her from giving in to all those who told her that her gender, not her qualifications, was what mattered more.
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Eventually, she broke in. In 2014, Balkovec became the first woman to work as a full-time strength and conditioning coach in the majors. But, after seven years in that role with the Yankees and Astros organizations, she faced a new round of resistance when attempting to transition into position coaching.
It was 2018, but the scene was frustratingly familiar.
"Transitioning to becoming a hitting coach was also extremely difficult," said Balkovec. "I had to make really difficult decisions in my career to keep going."
One of those decisions meant leaving the country. Balkovec was able to work as an apprentice hitting coach for the Netherlands' national baseball and softball teams while working towards a second master's in human movement sciences at Vrije University. She was so low on cash she says she slept on a mattress she'd pulled from a dumpster.
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"If you’re asking me why I did that I think it’s that at some point you just have to look at yourself and go what is my purpose on this planet? And if I don’t do this who’s going to come behind me and do it? And if the answer is OK it’s just me then I don’t feel like I really have a choice," said Balkovec. "I know that I’m capable of doing this. I know that I’m the right person for it. I know that being a woman I know that I can get respect in any room that I walk into, so if I choose not to do that and I have the opportunity then it’s disrespectful to other women who come behind me."
In 2019, the Yankees hired Balkovec as a minor league hitting coach, making her the first woman to be named to that role in the history of professional baseball.
She says the last three years feel light years beyond what she'd experienced a decade earlier. Finally, for the first time in her career, her next move up came without a mountain of resistance.
"It felt like this was a normal role change inside of an organization and the Yankees deserve credit for that because this time it didn’t feel like, you know, I didn’t have to sleep out of a mattress out of a trash bin. A lot has changed. Lots of positive change," said Balkovec. "I’m happy to be here now."
Many of Balkovec's players are already familiar with her after her years as a hitting coach. New players say she's their first-ever female coach.
"Ever since the day that I shook her hand I could just feel an energy and a vibe that she definitely has more than enough power to be a captain of this team," stated pitcher Chandler Champlain.
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It's the timing of her hire that Champlain says surprised him most.
"It’s a little disappointing that it’s taken until 2022 to open your eyes and see this is an opportunity, this is possible," said Champlain. "It’s a really proud day I think for the organization, for New York Yankees baseball. I think having women in this culture of sports, this is just a really great day."
More than 1,000 female student athletes received donated tickets from the Lakeland Flying Tigers, despite Balkovec managing the road team at Friday's game.
"It brings hope to us, that we can make it out there," said Norah Laurore, a sophomore at Ridgeview Global Studies Academy in Davenport, who attended the game.
"This is important for us, we have her back, and we are here for her," said Ridgeview track and field coach Natalia Lopez.
Balkovec's first home game at Steinbrenner Field will be Tuesday, April 12.