Red Sox's Bianca Smith wants to be MLB manager

The Boston Red Sox made history earlier this week when they announced the hiring of Bianca Smith as a minor-league coach. Smith, 29 years old, will become the first Black woman to coach in professional baseball. 

Smith hopes that's only the beginning of a journey that ends with her working at the sport's highest level. 

"I don't want to limit myself and I want to go as I can," Smith told reporters during Thursday's introductory press conference, per Joon Lee of ESPN. "I want to continue to challenge myself and right now, that [goal] is MLB manager. I don't see that changing anytime soon. ... As much as I love coaching, I want to be in that position. I want to learn as much as I can to be in that role."

Smith previously worked as an assistant baseball coach and hitting coordinator for Carroll University and had also completed time as an intern with the Cincinnati Reds and Texas Rangers. She originally considered pursuing gigs in a front office en route to becoming a general manager but changed paths after working directly with coaches as the director of baseball operations at Case Western. 

"You don't see someone who looks like you on the field so you don't think that you can do that too," Smith added about the lack of women in on-the-field roles throughout baseball. "A lot of kids get their idea of what they want to do based on who they see doing it. I'm hoping that, besides focusing on my job and developing players as much as I can, if the result of this position is that more women, more people in general are inspired to consider this as a position or at least try to get into the game, that would be great. That's the first step, letting them have the idea that this is a potential career path."

Case Western coach Matt Englander spoke highly of Smith for a piece published on the school's website on Wednesday. 

"Bianca deserves this," Englander said. "The reasons the Red Sox are hiring her are the same reasons I did – she can help them win. She is a pioneer, and it is a huge story, but she has earned this for how hard she has had to work and how smart she is. I have no doubt she will be highly successful and continue to move up."