Rachel "Rae" Balkovec
Rachel Balkovec is currently the director of player development for the Miami Marlins, but before she joined the front office, she was a trailblazer for women in baseball.
Rachel Balkovec was born July 5th, 1987 in Omaha, Nebraska. Rachel grew up playing multiple sports, but would excel in softball, even playing it at the collegiate level. After her college career she became invested in baseball, specifically at the minor league level, and set out to make a career in baseball. Rachel Balkovic is currently working in the front office for the Miami Marlins, but her journey there was different than most.
“Rae”
After graduating from high school, Rachel attended Creighton University, and joined the softball team as a catcher. She would later transfer to the University of New Mexico where she would play out the rest of her career as an athlete. Rachel left the University of New Mexico with a bachelor's degree in exercise science, and later earned her master’s degree in kinesiology from Louisiana State University. Following her graduation she stayed in touch with some of the baseball players from the University of New Mexico that had been drafted, and she began to fall in love with the logistics of baseball.
“I didn’t know about the extensive minor league system and the Dominican Republic and winter ball. I didn’t know all these things and I just became honestly fascinated with the onion of professional baseball as a business.” -Rachel Balkovec (SNY, 2:41-2:52).
Rachel had begun to pursue a career in baseball, but was held back early on by her gender. She was working as a strength and conditioning coach at LSU so she was sure that her resume would be up to the correct standards, but she kept getting turned down for jobs she applied for. After becoming a waitress while still applying and being shot down for every position she applied to, Rachel’s sister came up with an idea.
“My sister, Stephanie, I will give her the credit, said well why don’t you change your name to Rae and see what happens?”-Rachel Balkovec (SNY, 7:44-7:50).
Rachel started sending out her resume with her name listed as “Rae” and immediately began to receive responses. Even after securing interviews, many would not call back a second time after hearing Rachel’s voice. Finally, a call came from the St. Louis Cardinals, and Rachel was given the chance she had always deserved.
Trailblazer
Rachel was hired by the Johnson City Cardinals, the St. Louis Cardinals rookie league affiliate, on a contractual basis in 2012, to be the team's strength and conditioning coordinator. She would later take over the full-time position for the club in 2014, the first time a female had ever held this position.
She would then be hired in 2016 by the Houston Astros organization to be the clubs Latin American strength and conditioning coordinator, which she had to learn the Spanish language to obtain this role. Yet another position that Rachel would be the first female to earn. After spending the 2018 season as the strength and conditioning coordinator for the Astros Double-A affiliate, Corpus Christi Hooks, she moved to the Netherlands to obtain a second master's degree.
Rachel would work as an assistant coach for the Dutch baseball team before finally returning to the United States. In 2019 Rachel accepted a job with the New York Yankees to take over the role of minor league hitting coach. Surprise surprise, she was the first woman to ever hold the position. After spending 2 years in this role, Rachel would take the biggest step of her career as she was named the manager of the Low-A Tampa Tarpons heading into the 2022 season. Balkovic was the first ever woman to manage a team in the MLB at any level. She would go on to manage the Tarpons through the 2023 season where she accumulated an overall record of 122-136.
What’s Next?
Regardless of the record the Tarpons held under the management of Balkovic, her drive to succeed in the world of baseball is second to none. She is currently the director of player development for the Miami Marlins organization where she will continue to put her stamp on the history of the MLB. Rachel Balkovec just needed a chance to show the MLB world what she was capable of. She did things that “Rae” would never have accomplished because she is not defined by her gender, but by the undoubtable determination she used to get where she is today.
You can watch the full video interview where I obtained my quotes here!
Wow! Well done Rachel "Rae" Balkovec! Very inspiring story.