Barrier broken: Balkovec 'highly aware' of impact of her managerial debut
Dawn Klemish
@Sportsgal25LAKELAND, Fla. -- Rachel Balkovec only made it about 50 steps onto the field at Joker Marchant Stadium on Friday afternoon before a group of fans waved her over to offer congratulations and ask for an autograph.
Then she continued up the first-base line toward the visitors¡¯ dugout, where she repeated the process for another eager group, this time also posing for several candid shots before breaking away to head back to the clubhouse.
Balkovec¡¯s managerial debut for the Yankees¡¯ Single-A affiliate Tampa Tarpons was still an hour away at that point, but she understood that this, too, was going to be a big part of her job.
And the first full-time female manager in affiliated baseball history was just fine with that.
¡°I'm definitely aware [of my impact],¡± Balkovec said Friday morning. ¡°Thankfully, I've had about 10 years to prepare for something like this. So, it's been ongoing throughout the years of all young women reaching out, overwhelmingly reaching out, girl dads reaching out.
¡°I'm definitely highly aware of it and it definitely drives my action, pretty much every day, honestly.¡±
More than a decade of hard work and barrier-breaking landed Balkovec in the manager¡¯s seat for the Tarpons, who opened their season with a 9-6 win against the Lakeland Flying Tigers on Friday night. She¡¯s experienced plenty of firsts during her 10-year professional coaching career -- and heard at least twice as many ¡°no's¡± -- as she rose through the ranks, from strength and conditioning roles to hitting coach gigs to her most recent promotion.
The naysayers might have altered her course a time or two, but Balkovec never wavered in her conviction, admitting she¡¯s been told ¡°no¡± for most of her life.
Girls aren¡¯t supposed to do that. Girls can¡¯t have that role.
Her refusal to accept those answers dates back to her childhood. Balkovec was a tomboy and a ¡°very aggressive athlete,¡± announcing with conviction in fourth grade that she would be the first female kicker in the NFL.
¡°I don't know why I said I wanted to be the first female something,¡± she said, ¡°but I guess I was seeing in the future.¡±
Fast-forward to Friday night, when Balkovec -- who was also the first woman to be hired as a full-time strength and conditioning coach in affiliated baseball -- joined the ranks of some pretty impressive trailblazers, the most recent of which was Kelsie Whitmore, who on Friday became one of the first women to sign a contract with a team in an MLB Partner League.
¡°It's pretty special,¡± Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Thursday. ¡°She's earned her way over there and she commands a lot of respect and has earned that on the player-development side by her impact on players in a lot of different areas. ¡
¡°Those kids so look up to her and respect her. It's something that she certainly earned, is certainly ready for, and I'm excited to see her go lead a team. I know she's really looking forward to it."
It hasn¡¯t always been smooth going, Balkovec conceded. But the standing ovation given to her from the crowd during pregame lineup announcements and the cheers from the 2,893 in attendance Friday night -- many from the nearly 1,200 female student athletes in attendance who received free entry thanks to a donation from the Detroit Tigers Foundation -- was proof that Balkovec¡¯s latest victory served a purpose much bigger than even her own.
"I had to make some really difficult decisions in my career to keep going. If you're asking me why I did that, I ... just like you have to look at yourself and go, 'What is my purpose on this planet? And if I don't do this, who else is going to come behind me and do it?'
"I know that I'm capable of doing this. I know that I'm the right person for it. I know that I'm a woman, I know that I can get respect in any room that I walk into, so [to quit would be] disrespectful to other women who've come behind me and done that for me. So that's why I've kept going."
That can-do attitude inspires her team, which rode a seventh-inning grand slam from Anthony Garcia to victory on Opening Day. More than the big knock though, left fielder Ryder Green said, there was a sense of duty shared among the players to deliver for their leader.
¡°I think that [tonight] was a moment that we all understood what we needed to do,¡± he said. ¡°We were going to go out there and do everything we could to get a dub for her.¡±
It was evident from the beginning that Friday was no ordinary Florida State League season opener. When the second pitch of the game was fouled off into the Flying Tigers¡¯ dugout, it was quickly shuffled down a line that ended with a baseball authenticator, who slapped a sticker on it and recorded its receipt in his book to commemorate the moment.
Any other night, they¡¯d have flipped that ball into the crowd for a souvenir.
But Friday wasn¡¯t any other night. That ball was headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., much like a load of other mementos from her historic night, including her game-worn jersey and hat.
¡°It was an honor to play in the game,¡± said Jasson Dominguez, the Yankees¡¯ No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline (seen above speaking with Balkovec in the dugout). ¡°I¡¯ll never forget this day. Never.¡±
Wrapping up a whirlwind day that began more than 12 hours earlier, Balkovec allowed herself a moment to appreciate the journey.
¡°I¡¯ve never heard my name chanted like that,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s like, I see me sitting in the stands, 15 or 20 years ago, and so it¡¯s just really cool. Especially for all those young female athletes that came out; it was just very cool that they¡¯re here in this moment.
¡°And maybe they don¡¯t even fully understand it right now, but I think in the future when they get into their professional careers and maybe hit some brick walls that they¡¯ll hopefully reflect on this moment.¡±