Boston Red Sox to Hire Bianca Smith as First Black Woman Coach in Professional Baseball

Boston, MA — Bianca Smith is set to become the first African American coach in professional baseball team history.

Smith, who is 29-years old, will work with the minor league players in the Boston Red Sox’s spring training complex in Fort Myers, Florida. She will be responsible for coaching position players.

“She was a great candidate coming in,” Red Sox vice president of player development Ben Crockett, who helped with the appointment, told the Boston Globe. “She’s had some really interesting experiences and has been passionate about growing her skillset and development herself.”

Smith, who was a softball player during college at Dartmouth from 2010-12, has a lot under her belt. She served as a director of baseball operations and a graduate assistant at Case Western Reserve for about 5 years before serving as an assistant coach at the University of Dallas for a year.

Smith also had previous experience in the major league back in 2017 as an intern for the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds baseball operations department.

Moreover, she will be officially announced as the new coach later this month. The Major League Baseball organization started hiring women just last year, with Smith as the first woman who is Black.