The first woman to fight for her place in the baseball world was Bernice Gera, who spent years fighting in court for the right to become the first female professional umpire in 1972. Women have come a long way path in baseball over the ensuing 45 years.
That’s clear from this All-Star Week, where ESPN’s Jessica Mendoza gave a public face to the significant and often behind-the-scenes progress baseball has made in terms of gender diversity. The game continues to evolve in this way, with more and more women taking on leadership roles and driving positive change within the sport.
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That was the topic of the All-Star Week-style all-star panel that gathered to discuss gender diversity in baseball Monday in Miami ahead of the Home Run Derby. The panel, comprised of women from several areas of the front office, sought to raise awareness among women of the obstacles still faced in the industry and the progress they have made to overcome them.
The panel was moderated by Kim Ng, one of baseball’s greatest pioneers. Ng, who currently works as senior vice president of baseball operations for Major League Baseball, was the youngest person and first woman to bring a salary arbitration case when she did so in 1995, is became an assistant general manager at age 29 and worked as an executive for the White Sox, Yankees and Dodgers.
The goal of the discussion was to “raise eyebrows, in a good way.”
“When I wanted to get into baseball, I tried it, it wasn’t that easy and I kind of gave up and did something else. It’s not easy to get started if “You’re a man or a woman. But I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a little harder to become a woman,” said Rebecca Seesel, head of international baseball operations for MLB. “What I’ve learned over the last six years is that you have to be comfortable being yourself. You have skills and experiences that will make you valuable in whatever interests you. “
Dana Parks, baseball operations assistant with the Tampa Bay Rays, said she grew up loving the Phillies and lived her dream of working in professional sports. She is now part of a team that helps with analysis and scouting.
“When I was younger and a fan, it was more results-oriented,” Parks said. “From a scouting standpoint, it’s much more process-oriented. You don’t want to see what a player does, but how does he do it? Do I think he can repeat it? It’s much more granular. It’s more about how and why rather than what.”
Cleveland Indians performance coach Ceci Clark was the first woman hired full-time by MLB to work in mental training. She spoke about the challenges and opportunities associated with such a position.
“I think knowing yourself is an important place to start. A lot of questions that your male counterparts could easily answer – because many have come before them – might not be answered for you,” Clark said. “Some of the infrastructure isn’t there yet, and you often answer these questions, being the first person to do so. It’s not an easy first place, but it’s really exciting, and you have the opportunity to define it .”
