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Posts tagged as “minor league baseball”

Bianca Smith Earns Coaching Spot with Red Sox Minor League Team, Becomes 1st Black Woman Pro Baseball Coach

Bianca Smith Earns Coaching Spot with Red Sox Minor League Team, Becomes 1st Black Woman Pro Baseball Coach

By goodblacknews on January 2, 2021

[photo: Bianca Smith via Twitter]

Bianca Smith is set to score some baseball history.

The Boston Red Sox organization is hiring Smith as a minor league coach, according to the Boston Globe. MLB confirmed Smith will be the first Black woman on record to coach baseball at the professional level.

Smith, who most recently was an assistant baseball coach and hitting coordinator at Carroll University in Wisconsin, will mainly work with infielders at the Red Sox’s minor league facility in Fort Meyers, Florida.

Smith’s pro baseball experience includes interning in the operations departments for the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds, in addition to working in amateur administration for MLB.

Smith played softball for her Ivy League alma mater Dartmouth from 2010-12 before working as director of baseball operations at Case Western Reserve University from 2013-17 and as an assistant coach with University of Dallas in 2018, according to the Globe.

To read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/31/sports/red-sox-hire-bianca-smith-minor-league-coach-making-her-first-black-woman-coach-mlb-history/

MLB Forms Diversity Committee, Focus on Increasing Number of Black Players

By goodblacknews on April 15, 2013
Atlanta Braves' Justin Upton hits a walkoff home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, Saturday, April 6, 2013, in Atlanta. Atlanta won 6-5. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Atlanta Braves’ Justin Upton hits a walkoff home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, Saturday, April 6, 2013, in Atlanta. Atlanta won 6-5. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball has created a task force that will study how to increase diversity in the game, especially among black players.  Commissioner Bud Selig announced the committee Wednesday.  This week, baseball will celebrate the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier. A new movie titled “42″ focuses on the Hall of Famer.
The 18-member committee includes representatives from club ownership, the players’ union, minor league and college baseball, the MLB scouting bureau and other areas. Hall of Famer Frank Robinson and former major league manager Jerry Manuel are among the members.  MLB says about 8.5 percent of players on this year’s opening day rosters identified themselves as African-American or black. That’s around half the number from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s.
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“As a social institution, Major League Baseball has an enormous social responsibility to provide equal opportunities for all people, both on and off the field,” Selig said in a statement.