Bianca Smith will blaze a trail once she reports for duty.
The Boston Red Sox will hire Smith as a minor league coach, vice president of player development Ben Crockett confirmed to The Boston Globe's Julian McWilliams on Thursday. Smith, whose hiring the Red Sox will announce in January, is set to become the first Black woman coach in professional baseball history.
"It’s a meaningful, meaningful thing for the organization," Crockett told McWilliams.
Smith will coach Red Sox minor league players in Fort Myers, Fla., with a focus on position players.
Smith has worked as the assistant coach and hitting coordinator at Division 3 Carroll University in Wisconsin since 2019. Prior to that she played softball at Dartmouth (between 2010 and 2012), was the director of baseball operations and a graduate assistant at Case Western Reserve (between 2013 and 2017) and also worked as an assistant coach at the University of Dallas (in 2018).
She also interned in the baseball operations departments of the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds.
"She was a great candidate coming in," Crockett said. "She's had some really interesting experiences and has been passionate about growing her skill set and development herself."
Time will tell where Smith's skills take her, but this first step in pro baseball is truly noteworthy.
