Three Differing Press Conferences For The Giants, Mets And Yankees

On Wednesday afternoon, three New York teams held press conferences for distinctly different feelings: disappointment, celebratory and historic.

The New York Giants brought out owner John Mara to address the firing of Joe Judge along with the search for a new general manager and coach in the wake of the ugly 13-loss season that ended with six straight losses and continued a run that has seen the franchise lose 100 times since their fourth Super Bowl in Feb. 2012.

The New York Mets held a press conference to celebrate the announcement they are retiring broadcaster Keith Hernandez’s No. 17 in July. It was another notable move for a team who dominated the free agency headlines by signing Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha in the frenzy leading up the Dec. 2 lockout and then hired Buck Showalter to be the manager much to the delight of a majority of its fans.

While those press conferences were ongoing, the Yankees were discussing to a packed virtual setting about hiring Rachel Balkovec to manager their Single-A team in Tampa for the upcoming season, making the 34-year-old the first woman to manage at any level of professional baseball.

 It was quite a contrast and a unique occurrence for the three New York teams whose last few months focused on losing, inactivating and free spending.

For the Yankees, the path to naming Balkovec as a manager in their minor league system started in 2019 when they named her as a minor league hitting instructor. By last month, the idea of naming Balkovec manager developed for vice president of player development Kevin Reese.

On a routine day when Balkovec merely showed up to the player development facility in Tampa intending to do some offseason work with minor leaguers, she was invited to a meeting with Reese.

Reese then offered the job to Balkovec, by Tuesday it was official and a day later shortly before Mara tried to express where things drastically deteriorated and Hernandez expressed his joy at a playing career being honored, nearly 120 people attended a virtual press conference as Balkovec outlined her winding path to the managerial job, including what she initially told Reese.

“Look, I’m going to make mistakes,’” Balkovec said. “‘I’m going to need support.’ I think they were like, ‘Duh, we’re here to support you and we see you in a leadership position.’”

The Yankee response was essentially “we know” and we are there to support you.

“There wasn’t a ton of debate as to whether baseball was ready or the world was ready,” said Reese, who hired her in 2019 as the team’s hitting coach. “We’re trying to find the best people and put them in the best position to have an impact here.”

“The feedback was always positive on Rachel,” Reese said. “This is about her qualifications, her ability to lead and (the decision-making process) was relatively quick. I think the toughest part was probably talking her into it, selling her on the opportunity, what it was going to look like and how we were going to try to help. Once she was all in, it’s been smooth since.”

Among the things putting Balkovec into the position was an ability to lead and form relationships with players. Balkovec, a Nebraska native, taught herself Spanish when she became the Latin American strength and conditioning coach in 2016 of the Houston Astros and among her most prominent work was with top prospect Jasson Dominguez, whom the Yankees signed for a $5.1 million signing bonus on July 2, 2019.

Another factor was her analytical nature, a direction every team cites when seeking managerial and coaching talent.

“We’re going to be talking more nuts and bolts of pitching and hitting with them, and defense,” Balkovec said. “It’s really just to be a supporter, and to facilitate an environment where they can be successful.”

The road to a crowded virtual introductory press conference started in 2012 with the St. Louis Cardinals as a temporary strength and conditioning coach in the Appalachian League. Two years later, she was promoted to a full-time role and in 2016 Balkovec joined the Astros and was promoted as the strength and conditioning coach for the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks.

Following a move to Netherlands for a second graduate degree, Balkovec worked as an assistant hitting coach for the Dutch softball and baseball programs. Then she took a fellowship at Driveline in Seattle, using analytical tools such as researching eye tracking of hitters and hip movement of hitters.

Then in Nov. 2019 the Yankees hired her and on Wednesday, she was addressing a new role nearly 14 months after Derek Jeter hired former Yankee assistant GM Kim Ng to run the Miami Marlins as the first female general manager, a role Balkovec said she aspires to hold at some point.

“You want to surround yourself with the best people possible, no matter who they are and where they’re from so they can help serve the organization,” GM Brian Cashman said. “Rachel is obviously a part of that process and we’re proud to say she’s an employee of the New York Yankees and she’s finding her way, moving up the ladder and forcing opportunities to be considered.”

Balkovec is among 11 women in on-field jobs in affiliated baseball next year and the first to manage and eventually Cashman hopes such things are not as newsworthy but a matter of routine business.

“There’s always a first. There’s always someone that emerges that’s not afraid – that wants it, goes after it and is strong enough to take it, and unfortunately, some categories it takes longer than others.” Cashman said.

Either way a historical announcement is still better than discussing the wreckage of another ugly season, which is what Mara found himself trying to do.

“It’s the American dream,” Balkovec said. “There’s definitely been some dark times in my career that I’ve been able to overcome, by myself and with the support of those around me. I think that everybody can enjoy a piece of my story.”