NEW YORK—The Boston Red Sox have hired Bianca Smith as a minor league coach, making her the first black woman to serve as a coach in professional baseball.
Smith will work at the Major League Baseball club’s player development facility in Fort Myers, Florida, mainly on batting.
“I am so incredibly grateful for all of the support I’ve been getting,” Smith tweeted. “Of course none of this would be possible without the help of my family, friends, and the trailblazers who came before me.
“I can’t wait to get started. Thank you so much and go Red Sox!!”
Smith, 29, has been an assistant coach and hitting coordinator at Carroll University in Wisconsin since 2018 after five years as director of baseball operations as Case Western Reserve University in Ohio and a stint as an assistant at the University of Dallas.
Smith, a 2012 graduate and softball player at Dartmouth, has interned with MLB’s Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds and has a background in biomechanical and analytic areas with an eye to improved batting stances and performance.
“The number of different resources that the Red Sox have as far as tech goes, I’m really excited to get my hands on that,” she said. “Learning the different metrics and being able to dive deeper into what I currently have is pretty exciting.”
The Miami Marlins last year named Kim Ng their new general manager, making her the first woman to hold that title with a major North American sports team.
Meanwhile, former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda has been discharged from hospital and is “resting comfortably” at home, the Major League Baseball club said Tuesday.
Lasorda, 93, was hospitalized near his home in Orange County, California, and placed in intensive care in early November for an undisclosed illness.
Lasorda attended the Dodgers’ World Series-clinching victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Arlington, Texas, on October 27.
It was the team’s first World Series title since Lasorda guided them to the crown in 1988, adding a second title to the one earned under his leadership in 1981.
Lasorda has been a regular presence at Dodger Stadium since he retired as manager in 1996, roughly a month after suffering a heart attack in June of that year.
Four years later, Lasorda emerged from retirement to lead the US baseball team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where the United States defeated Cuba to win the gold medal.
Lasorda remains the only man to manage both World Series and Olympic baseball champions.
