Sports
After making history, Bianca Smith has moved on from the Red Sox
Bianca Smith made headlines when she was hired in January 2021 as the first Black woman coach in professional baseball’s history. CNN, BBC and People Magazine were among the outlets that ran stories about the newest Boston Red Sox minor league coach.
Two years later, Smith left the Red Sox organization to much less fanfare – leaving a multi-year offer on the table because she says she didn’t feel challenged.
“They wanted to send me back to rookie ball and I had no desire to be there, so I decided to take my chance,” Smith said in a phone interview with The Athletic. “Everyone I know who stays at rookie ball (for a long period of time) does so because they have families and they like the lifestyle. I was ready to travel more. My passion is (game) strategy and rookie ball is almost entirely player development.”
Smith isn’t giving up on getting back to MLB. She’s pivoting. The 31-year-old moved to Japan last summer and is coaching elementary and middle school baseball through the JET (Japanese Exchange and Teaching) program, which she called a “bucket list” item. Smith also recently accepted a job with the Great Britain women’s national baseball team and the 23 and under Great Britain baseball team.
Smith’s goal for this part of her coaching career is to be a sponge, soaking up as much information and different experiences as possible. Defensive strategies and baserunning are Smith’s passion, a style of baseball that’s more popular in Japan.
By the end of this year, she will have coached in five countries on three continents. In addition to learning Japanese, Smith is working on learning Chinese and Korean.
“Everyone (in MLB) speaks Spanish now, it almost feels like a requirement,” she said. “But how many coaches do we have who speak those languages? There are so many players coming from here, and more on the way, and all the Asian players typically have is their translators. There’s a huge focus on baserunning in Japan and I want to bring that over. It’s the idea of getting different experience and adding tools MLB doesn’t have.”
Smith made her decision to leave the Red Sox in late fall of 2022, which meant that most other teams had limited openings for the following season. Smith wasn’t surprised that she didn’t immediately land another job: The rookie-level positions are often the last ones open.
This offseason, though, was another story. Smith applied to several open positions and says she didn’t get an interview.
“That was surprising,” said Smith, who was open when she was hired by Boston that she had bigger goals: To be the first Black woman coaching in the Major Leagues.
A graduate of Dartmouth, where she was the only woman on the club softball team, Smith has two graduate degrees — one in sports business, the other in sports law. She interned with the Cincinnati Reds, Texas Rangers and Major League Baseball and served as the assistant coach and hitting coordinator at Carroll University in Wisconsin before the Red Sox hired her.
“I don’t want to say anything bad about the Red Sox, I loved my time there, but there’s a part of me that believes if I had come in as any ethnic male I would have advanced,” Smith said. “I don’t like the attention, I try to be modest but I do realize that my resume is crazy. I had to go through a lot just to get that rookie ball job, and that’s why I was surprised that I didn’t get a team interested in talking about a position after everything I’ve done.
“Looking back, I do believe I would have had more of a chance to advance if I wasn’t a woman in the game. There could have been stuff behind the scenes that I didn’t know about. But every industry has politics to deal with. As far as on the field, I didn’t have any issues.”
The Red Sox declined to comment on specifics of Smith’s contract offer, but Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham said, “Bianca ultimately decided to pursue other opportunities within baseball which we respect and (we) certainly wish her the best. During her time with the Red Sox it was exciting to see her continually grow as a staff member. She was a pleasure to work alongside.”
Even if Smith doesn’t get an offer from a pro team, she has a contract in Japan until August 2026 that affords her the opportunity to be picky about what to do next.
Smith says she no longer has dreams of being a big-league manager, and in a perfect world would prefer to be a base coach. Less attention, more strategy. Smith shied away from the blitz of media that accompanied her historic hire, and went a month and a half before making it public that she had left the Red Sox. She says she now has some regrets about that.
“I didn’t appreciate the opportunity of that attention,” said Smith, who started a blog called Go Be The First to document her adventures abroad. “I grew up with the belief that coaches should be behind the scenes, but now I do wish I had done more with (the attention) and used it as a platform. It’s not just about me not being in pro ball, it’s the fact that I was the only Black woman. And now there’s no one for Black girls to look at.
“I’ve had a chance to step back and think about what I’ve done. I kept telling people when I got the job, ‘I’m not done yet, let’s talk about it later.’ Obviously, I’m still not done, but I have done something that nobody has done before. I’ve had a couple of interviews here in Japan with different papers, that not only was I the first Black woman in MLB, but now I am in Japan coaching here. Now it’s hit me that, ‘OK, I’ve done something that’s pretty amazing.’ I can see that and still want to do more.”
Smith said she misses the players she coached and that she’s still in touch with many of them, as well as her former co-workers.
“Most of them understood and supported my decision. They know what my goals are, how ambitious I can be. Maybe (I’m) a little impatient, but I don’t have any ill will,” she said. “It’s harder to get back into pro ball than I thought it would be. But I don’t regret my decision (to leave). I think I’d be more upset in a job I was unhappy in where I’m not growing.”
(Top photo of Smith in 2021: Billie Weiss / Boston Red Sox via Getty Images)
Sports
Mike Trout’s torrid Angels series vs Yankees ends in historic fashion after he blasts fifth home run
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Mike Trout couldn’t stop rounding the bases at Yankee Stadium during the Los Angeles Angels’ four-game series, and he made history doing so.
The future Hall of Famer crushed five home runs, including a blast in the Angels’ 11-4 win Thursday afternoon, and tallied nine RBIs in the series, which Los Angeles split with New York.
The 34-year-old Trout entered the series with only two home runs and seven RBIs on the season, but he’s heading back home this weekend looking like his prime self after what transpired in the Bronx.
Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels before a game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y., April 13, 2025. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)
He also heads back with some history as the first visiting player to hit a home run four straight days at Yankee Stadium, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.
Trout’s five homers are also tied for the most in a single series against the Yankees. Only three others — George Bell, Darrell Evans and Jimmie Foxx — have done so in past seasons.
AARON JUDGE CALLS OUT YANKEES’ OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES AFTER GETTING SWEPT
The latest home run from Trout was a solo blast that traveled 446 feet off Yankees reliever Angel Chivilli in the top of the seventh inning Thursday to make it a 7-4 game. Jo Adell’s grand slam later in the game blew it open for Los Angeles to even the series in the end.
Before that, Trout kicked off the series with two home runs and five RBIs in a wild Monday night contest that ended with the Yankees walking it off. Aaron Judge also belted two home runs in the game, as did Trent Grisham, whose game-tying two-run blast in the ninth inning kept the Yankees’ hopes alive.
Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels hits a two-run home run during the fifth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium April 15, 2026, in New York City. (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
But Trout and the Angels got the job done Tuesday night, and the veteran outfielder’s only hit was a solo homer. Then, in Wednesday night’s loss, Trout went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs.
Yankee Stadium in general has been a pleasant place for Trout, a South New Jersey native, as he’s hitting .346 with 13 homers in his career there. He also homered in five straight games against the Yankees if you include the Angels’ last meeting in 2025. That also took place in Yankee Stadium.
“He’s the greatest, the greatest of all time,” Judge said of Trout after Monday’s game. “I know he’s had some tough injuries over the years, but to see himself back in a better spot this year – every time he comes to the Bronx, man, he puts on a show. I hate to see it, but it’s fun competing against a guy like that.”
As Judge mentioned, the Angels are just happy Trout is playing injury-free to start the season, and perhaps this Yankees series has him hitting his stride.
Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels hits a three-run home run in the sixth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York City on April 13, 2026. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
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The three-time league MVP is heading to Cooperstown one day, but there is always the thought among baseball fans about what could’ve been for his career had injuries not gotten in the way. Trout played 130 games last season for the first time since 2019.
Now 10-10, the Angels are hoping they can get that output from Trout once more in 2026. They’re looking to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
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A member of Alabama’s 2009 national championship team has been accused of impersonating NFL players as part of a scheme to fraudulently obtain nearly $20 million in loans to purchase real estate, vehicles and jewelry.
Luther Davis, a Crimson Tide defensive lineman from 2007-10, faces felony counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to court documents filed last month by the U.S. attorney in the the Northern District of Georgia. An alleged co-conspirator, CJ Evins, also faces the same counts.
The documents mention the initials of three players — X.M, D.N. and M.P. — that were impersonated during the alleged scheme. The Guardian is reporting that those players are Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney, Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
Prosecutors in the court filings said the NFL players were not involved in the alleged scheme.
The documents describe an elaborate hoax in which the defendants allegedly created fake companies and fraudulent email accounts and driver’s licenses to help fool lenders into loaning them huge sums of money.
Davis attended virtual loan-closing meetings wearing wigs, makeup and/or a head covering to disguise himself as players seeking loans, according to court documents.
Both men entered pleas of not guilty at their arraignments but have indicated to the court they will enter guilty pleas at hearings set for April 27, according to court records.
In 45 games over four seasons with Alabama, Davis registered 21 solo tackles, 26 assists and eight tackles for loss. A 2013 Yahoo report alleged that Davis broke NCAA rules by paying five prospective draft picks from the Southeastern Conference as an intermediary for sports agents and financial advisers.
Sports
WWE champ Jade Cargill very hopeful to meet ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin at Hall of Fame ceremony
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LAS VEGAS – WrestleMania 42 is the big-ticket item on pro wrestling fans’ checklist this weekend in Las Vegas, but before the bell rings, WWE will enshrine its 2026 class into the Hall of Fame.
AJ Styles, Stephanie McMahon, Sycho Sid, Bad News Brown, Dennis Rodman, the tag team duo known as Demolition and Hulk Hogan’s match with Andre the Giant from WrestleMania 3 are included this year.
Jade Cargill enters the arena before competing against Iyo Sky during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
Jade Cargill, the current WWE women’s champion, is also excited for the Hall of Fame festivities. She told Fox News Digital she was a big fan of the Attitude Era of the WWE and was hopeful to be able to meet be able to meet “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
“I hope he is there because I want to meet him,” she told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. “He’s one of the people, other than Paul Heyman and Booker T, Paul Heyman I was like I have to meet him. How did this guy survive this long? He’s bigger than life. He’s just natural with it. I have to meet him, have to take a picture with him, talk to him, I have to do that.
WRESTLEMANIA 42 CARD REVEALED AS MAIN EVENTS AND MAJOR MATCHES ARE SET
Stone Cold Steve Austin speaks during WrestleMania 41 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 20, 2025. (WWE/WWE/Getty Images)
“And Stone Cold is the other person. I’m very hopeful that he’s gonna be there at the Hall of Fame. He was there last year. But I couldn’t like, there was so many people crowding him. And just to see Stephanie (McMahon) get her flowers is one-of-one. I love that for her.”
Austin was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009 as a wrestler. Last year, he was inducted as part of the immortal moment wing. His match with Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 was inducted last year. He’s one of eight wrestlers who are in the Hall of Fame multiple times.
WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill performs in the ring during SmackDown at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on March 13, 2026. (Bradlee Rutledge/WWE)
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The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony will take place at Dolby Live at Park MGM on Friday night at midnight ET.
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