Bianca Smith, with Sewickley roots, makes history as 1st Black woman to coach pro-level baseball

The first Black woman to coach on a professional baseball team has roots in Sewickley, and her favorite baseball team growing up was the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Bianca Smith, 29, was hired Jan. 4 by the Boston Red Sox. Her role is stationed in Fort Myers, Fla., to work as a minor-league hitting instructor.

Days after the historic hire, Smith was still wrapping her head around everything. Some of the nation’s media have drawn comparisons to one of her childhood icons, Jackie Robinson, who in 1947 became the first Black man to play in Major League Baseball.

“I still don’t see it as being that big,” she said on a Zoom call with reporters from across the nation. “I feel like Jackie Robinson did so much more.”

I am so incredibly grateful for all of the support I’ve been getting! Of course none of this would be possible without the help of my family, friends, and the trailblazers who came before me. I can’t wait to get started. Thank you so much and go Red Sox!! https://t.co/17W4Ah92tl

— Bianca Smith ⚾️ (@biancaesmith12) January 5, 2021

Nevertheless, she has embraced the role as one that could open doors for girls and women who want to follow a similar path.

“Now that I’m in this position I’m hoping to be that person … they can see who looks like them, and give them the idea that ‘hey, I can do this,’ ” she said. “Because sometimes it’s not the idea that I can’t do it, it’s that you never thought of it because you don’t see anybody who looks like you.”

Smith, who grew up in Texas, never dreamed of working in sports.

“Believe it or not, she wanted to be a veterinarian,” said Bob Patterson, her stepfather, with a chuckle. Patterson, 53, has lived in Sewickley for about a decade. He married Smith’s mother about 20 years ago. Her sister, Rachel, graduated from Quaker Valley High School in 2013, and Smith’s brother, Bobby, graduated from the school in 2020.

Her mother, Dawn, died of cancer in 2013, Patterson said.

Although Patterson had taken her and the rest of the family to several Pittsburgh Pirates games over the years, her love for baseball came while attending Dartmouth College, where she played softball and club baseball and graduated in 2012.

An injury ended her playing days, but she asked the college’s baseball coach, Bob Whalen, if she could be the team’s manager. When he agreed, it became her first real experience working around the game, she said.

The path became clearer after an internship with the Pittsburgh Power, the city’s Arena Football League team.

“It kind of confirmed that, no, I want to work in baseball, as much as I love other sports,” she said.

She also worked for the former Sewickley Sporting Goods store.

“It doesn’t seem like a normal path, but even being able to pick up on the equipment and helping athletes figure out what works best for them, it’s still very similar,” Smith said.

Patterson is not surprised Smith ended up where she is.

“Bianca is very driven, self-motivated and really smart,” he said, adding her career path became more clear as she attended Case Western Reserve University, where she earned a dual MBA and law degree. He said she would spend a lot of her “free time” studying and learning about areas that complemented her interests.

“I mean, she would study the muscles and their movements as a way to help with batting,” Patterson said.

At Case Western, she served as an assistant to the baseball team. She then interned with the Texas Rangers in the baseball franchise’s front office before becoming a coach in its Urban Youth Academy.

After Texas, she interned with the Cincinnati Reds in its scouting department.

And she’s currently finishing up as an assistant athletic director and hitting coordinator with Carroll University in Wisconsin.

Now that she has been given the opportunity to coach, which she described as her passion, her goal is to be the general manager of a professional baseball team someday.

“I never want to limit myself. I just want to go as high as I can, as far as I can. I definitely want to be on a major-league staff and get that far,” she said.

For those aspiring for something more in their career, she shared this advice:

“Take the opportunities as they come to you, but don’t be afraid to make opportunities. Several of my positions were positions that did not exist until I got there,” she said. “And not only did I help create them, I expanded them based on how I thought I brought value. Create your own opportunities as well. If you hear a no, that’s fine. But ask, ‘Why not? How can I get better?’ ”