MLB: Jarred Kelenic hits a historic first female coach with a foul ball at the Futures Game

Rachel Balkovec barely had time to soak it all in before a line from the great prospect of the Seattle Mariners, Jarred Kelenic, bounce off his leg and bring everything back to reality. Balkovec kind of said with gestures to Kelenic what happened? and he put his hands to the helmet as if lamenting.

At the time at the beginning of the first entry, Balkovec was not a pioneer or a creator of history, she was a first base coach indicating to the player in the batter’s box that everything was fine:

Like the players on the field, the 34-year-old Balkovec is trying to climb the ladder to the majors, working with the game’s rising stars on the diamond and alongside legends of the past in the dugout. It’s a moment that happened suddenly, but it actually took years to develop.

Circumstances related to COVID-19 brought Balkovec’s 2020 season with the Yankees organization to a winter with the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League, as Minor League games were canceled across the country.

She returned to the United States this season and was assigned to the Gulf Coast League Yankees, tasked with assisting Jasson Dominguez, the 18-year-old Yankees ‘top prospect, as he begins his journey through the Los Angeles’ farm system. Bombers.

Balkovec’s vast experience working with young talent around the world caught the attention of Futures Game manager LaTroy Hawkins, who led the American League team and helped make Sunday’s momentous occasion possible.

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Balkovec and the American League All-Stars they fell to the National League by a final score of 8-3, with Dominguez going 0 of 3 at the plate. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum collected the cap worn by Balkovec’s game for archival and display in Cooperstown.

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