Boston Red Sox: Bianca Smith becomes first Black woman in MLB coaching history

Bianca Smith accepted a minor league coaching position with the Boston Red Sox, making her the first Black woman in MLB coaching history.

In yet another huge milestone moment for women breaking down barriers in sports, the Boston Red Sox announced the hiring of Bianca Smith as a minor league coach on Monday. The 29-year-old becomes the first Black woman to coach in professional baseball.

Smith joins the Red Sox with an impressive baseball resume. The Dartmouth College graduate played softball in college before holding internships with the baseball operations departments for both the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds. From there, Smith went on to full-time opportunities including her role as the director of baseball operations at Case Western Reserve University from 2013 to 2017.

She then spent a year working as an assistant coach for the University of Dallas in 2018. Most recently, Smith held the assistant coach and hitting coordinator positions at Carroll University in Wisconsin.

"“The opportunity is amazing,” Smith said. “I’m still wrapping my head around it. I probably won’t really have it sink in until I’m actually there.”"

The news of Smith’s hiring comes shortly after the Miami Marlins announced Kim Ng as the first female GM in MLB history. Hopefully, the past month of hires is indicative of this continued trend of women breaking down barriers in sports.

While the league still has a lot of work left in fully achieving racial and gender equality in its hiring practices, these achievements are monumental. Just last year, Alyssa Nakken became the first woman to hold a full-time coaching position in the big leagues. Nakken was hired as an assistant coach for the San Francisco Giants in January of 2020.

"“I think it’s a great opportunity also to kind of inspire other women who are interested in this game,” said Smith."