Boston Red Sox Hire First Black Woman to Coach Pro Baseball Bianca Smith

On Monday, January 4th the Boston Red Sox announced that they hired Bianca Smith, 29, to be a minor league coach. Bianca Smith has become the first Black woman to coach in professional baseball.

“The opportunity is amazing,” Smith said Monday during an interview with MLB Network. “I’m still wrapping my head around it. I probably won’t really have it sink in until I’m actually there.”

Smith has worked as the assistant coach and hitting coordinator at Carroll University in Wisconsin since 2018. With the Red Sox, she will be based at the team’s player development facility in Fort Myers, Florida, working primarily with position players.

“I think it’s a great opportunity also to kind of inspire other women who are interested in this game,” Smith told MLB Network. “This is not really something I thought about when I was younger. I kind of fell into it being an athlete. So I’m excited to get that chance to show what I can do.”

Check out the announcement via Twitter below:

Bianca Smith will be joining the #RedSox organization this season, making her the first Black woman to coach in professional baseball history. pic.twitter.com/ZQsHd8iprD

— Red Sox (@RedSox) January 5, 2021

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