Pittsburgh, Feb. 2 (US): Kaitlyn Callahan was standing at Starbucks in the fall of 2019 when she was called on her phone and met with a life-altering shock.
A few clicks told her that the New York Yankees had made Rachel Balkovich the first woman to serve as a full-time coach in the major leagues. Suddenly, the door that Callahan assumed was shut opened and the inner ball player reappeared.
“If you’re ever in one of those in-between situations where you’re with that hit and there’s someone on the second (base) and that excitement, like, ‘Ready to go. I want to be in the box like this,’ that was how I felt,” Callahan said. “I was just so excited to see that. It gives me goosebumps a little bit because frankly, (it was) empowering.”
And a sign of things to come.
A little more than two years after Balkovec broke a barrier that Callahan fears will remain in place forever, she broke one, becoming the first female coach in the 135-year history of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the AP reports.
The team hired the 26-year-old last month as a development coach, capturing her knowledge, talent and perseverance.
“At the most basic level, she has the characteristics we’ve been looking for in any coach — a genuine passionate curiosity to learn, to learn about the best and most current coaching practices,” said Ben Tchirington, Buret’s General Manager. “She is definitely educated in all the forms of technology that we might use in player development. Most of all, she wants to help players improve and is passionate about putting the player first.”
It’s a mindset that Callahan developed as a middle school student when interest in softball in her Southern California neighborhood dried up. The Little League coach suggested to her younger brother that she try baseball, and she was more than supportive during the short time.
Although she returned to softball in high school and played collegiately at Boston University at St. Mary’s College, there was something about baseball stuck with her.
However, Callahan thought she wanted to be around the game and had to take on a supporting role, which is the kind of job she found after graduation: two seasons as a scout liaison in the Major League and then an assistant general manager in the Cape Cod League, where her job at Brewster Whitecaps ranged from making sure That the players wear appropriate trousers to pick up coffee for the coaches. Summer as an assistant baseball operations for the Staten Island Yankees. Two years as a video and technology intern in a minor league with the Cincinnati Reds.
“To be completely transparent with you, I didn’t think it would be possible for me to become a coach,” she said.
That changed last fall when a phone interview with minor league tech and video coordinator Mark Roach turned into an invitation to fly from Arizona — where she worked as a butler — to Bradenton, Florida, to participate in batting camp. With a group of young workers.
It didn’t take long for Callahan to stand out in ways that had nothing to do with her gender.
During one hitting practice session run by third base coach Mike Rabello, Callahan sprinted to the pile, reached for a basket full of baseballs, and began throwing a BB.
“(I) was like, This is my time. I have to show I can contribute, I can help,” Callahan said. “At the end of the day, that’s why I’m here: I want to help the team get better every day, just like raps. … I was like, at the time, ‘I have to prove that I can keep myself. I didn’t even think twice about it.”
Hitters during batting practice wore custom-made flashing goggles in an effort to help hitters develop better pitch recognition. Any stray fast ball can end in disaster. Callaghan had to be precise.
she was.
And now she’s part of the leading group she’s been eyeing for not so long ago, although, after all, she considers herself just another player to get into the coaching business.
Like every coach, she is there because she understands the game and has a passion for it. Her job is to pass on that passion and knowledge to the young people she will help lead.
She is ready for it. It’s been ready, for a long time.
“I think only half the battle is if you show that you are doing your best, working hard, actively learning every day, and the players respect that. Coaches respect that,” Callahan said. My best, and as long as I do it, I’m ready for it.”