Balkovec living ‘American dream’ as pioneer manager
NEW YORK — Rachel Balkovec is aware of the negativity in her social media feeds and tries to leave it there. Her sisters see it, too, and can’t help but pass along certain disparaging reactions to her barrier-breaking journey.
“It’s hilarious to me,” Balkovec said. “Because it’s the American dream.”
In the clubhouse? She hasn’t seen any of that toxicity there.
Balkovec, 34, was introduced Wednesday as manager of the New York Yankees’ Low Class A affiliate in the Florida State League. In taking over the Tampa Tarpons, Balkovec will become the first female manager in the history of affiliated baseball, an appointment 10 years in the making for the former college softball player.
“If you know my story and you have a pulse, I think it’s pretty hard not to get behind what’s going on here,” she said.
Nearly a decade after changing her name on résumés to disguise her gender and break into baseball, the 34-year-old has smashed several barriers en route to this title. She was the first woman to serve as a full-time minor league strength and conditioning coach, then the first to be a full-time hitting coach in the minors.
This promotion — a year after former Yankees employee Kim Ng became the majors’ first female general manager with the Miami Marlins — is different. Balkovec will run the clubhouse in Tampa, charged with overseeing the development of future big leaguers for one of the most famous sports franchises in the world.
“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 said.
It’s a trust she’s earned via an unusual route — one that didn’t exist 20 years ago, but not just because of her gender.
A former softball catcher at Creighton and New Mexico, Balkovec has a master’s in kinesiology from LSU and another in human movement sciences from Vrije University in the Netherlands. She has worked in strength and conditioning with the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros since first breaking into pro ball in 2012 and also spent time at Driveline Baseball, a datadriven center that has trained numerous major leaguers. She’s an expert in performance science, precisely the expert teams are coveting.
When the Yankees hired her as a minor league hitting coach in 2019, she was at the forefront among women breaking into uniformed jobs, but she was hardly the only coach without a traditional playing background.
Hitting 95 mph isn’t the same skill as teaching someone else to and as teams have shifted their focus in the hiring process to reflect that, it’s created a pathway for women like Balkovec or Alyssa Nakken, part of the San Francisco Giants’ major league coaching staff since 2020.
“There wasn’t a ton of debate as to whether baseball was ready or the world was ready,” said Yankees vice president of baseball operations Kevin Reese, who made the decision to promote Balkovec. “We’re trying to find the best people and put them in the best position to have an impact here.”
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has had a woman as an assistant GM since hiring Ng in 1998. When she left in 2001, Jean Afterman was appointed to the role and has been there since.
Balkovec has expressed interest in one day working in the front office and potentially becoming a GM herself.
“The sky’s the limit,” Cashman said. “She’s determined. She’s strong. She’s got perseverance.”