By Penelope Jennings ‘22, Sports Writer

On April 8th, Rachel Balkovec made history as the first woman to manage an MLB-affiliated team. In her first game, her Tampa Tarpons (New York Yankees Single-A affiliate) arose victorious over the Lakeland Flying Tigers, and crowds cheered her name. It’s been incredibly exciting to see Balkovec work her way through minor league coaching roles and break barriers throughout her entire career, but I’m tired of barriers needing to be broken. We see obstacles conquered every sports season, and while this is wonderful, I would give anything to not hear the phrase “first woman to do X” again. Seeing women in leadership roles has to become an everyday occurrence across all levels of men’s and women’s sports. People like Balkovec and Kim Ng, who made history in 2020 when she was named general manager of the Miami Marlins and became the first woman to do that job in any of the four major North American men’s sports leagues, continue to blaze trails and raise my hopes that we’re approaching a day when women in power in sports are no longer a rare sight.

Even more recently, Alyssa Nakken became the first female coach to make an on-field appearance in an MLB game on April 12th after the San Francisco Giants first base coach was ejected and she replaced him on the field. Although her moment in the spotlight was somewhat overshadowed by the ejection, the visibility of her position was still exciting and groundbreaking. She has served as an assistant coach for the Giants since 2020, but physically being on the field makes a much greater impact. The crowd recognized her appearance and gave her a round of applause as she took the field. 

These women are notable and deserve to have their accomplishments recognized as they’ve worked their ways up through the ranks of professional baseball. It is no easy feat to advance in professional sports regardless, but being women working in men’s sports makes it much harder. We should continue to celebrate these women while also accepting their positions here as normal. So yes, let’s celebrate them, but I cannot wait for the day when these accomplishments are no different than any other coach or manager advancing in their sport.