yankees low-class affiliate, tampa tarpons when the season begins. the first female manager in modern baseball league history. despite the progress made, balkovec is aware how have reacted to her barrier-breaking journey. i don t understand the negativity. like, if you know my story, and you have a pulse, i think it s pretty hard not to get behind what s going on here, and i just, you know, if you know yourself and you know where you came from, i just it doesn t really matter. so that s i just that s how i deal with the negativity or anything i hear coming my way. it s hey ilarious to me because it s the american dream. ten years ago struggling to get a job in baseball her sister suggested she change her name from rachel to ray on her resume. did that, actually got calls but changed her name back to rachel realizing she didn t want to work for someone who didn t want to hire women and great to see progress made.