MLB Network: Women on the Field

If you enjoyed Justin27's recent Fanpost which talked about women in baseball, you'll probably find this of interest. For International Women’s Day tod, MLB Network will debut a new program at 5 pm (Arizona time) featuring interviews with a number of female coaches across Major League organizations. Particularly of interest to Diamondbacks fans will be Ronnie Gajownik. She works on the coaching staff for our High-A affiliate, the Hillsboro Hops - looks like she has a special emphasis on the tech side, such as the use of Trackman.

The program is called “MLB Tonight: A Conversation”, featuring Women on the Field, and it’s co-hosted by Lauren Gardner and Amy Gutierrez. Among the women included in the program are the following:

• Rachel Balkovec, Low-A Tampa Tarpons manager (pictured, top)
• Alyssa Nakken, San Francisco Giants assistant coach
• Veronica Alvarez, Oakland Athletics minor league instructor
• Rachel Folden, ACL Chicago Cubs hitting coach
• Ronnie Gajownik, Arizona Diamondbacks Minor League coach
• Bianca Smith, Boston Red Sox Minor League coach
• Katie Krall, Boston Red Sox development coach

Here’s a clip from the program featuring Balkovec, the first woman to work as a full-time manager of a major league-affiliated team.

Did a bit more research on Gajownik, who played for the USA women’s national baseball team. She was part of the roster in the 2015 Pan-American Games, where women's baseball made its debut, and Team USA won the gold. She then became an assistant at Liberty University, followed by a position as hitting and outfield coach at the University of Massachusetts, before joining the Hops, initially as an intern, in April 2021. She was also a video coordinator in the AFL last fall.

Should make for an interesting show.