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)
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LeBron James got the last laugh on Sunday night as he sank two free throws in the final 3.9 seconds to lift the Los Angeles Lakers over the Phoenix Suns, 116-114.
James may be in the twilight of his career, but he showed he still had some fight. He was battling with Suns forward Dillon Brooks throughout the night. The two got into multiple skirmishes as the intensity was turned up a notch.
Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks fouls Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. Brooks was ejected from the game after the foul. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
As the game came down to the wire, Brooks hit a clutch 3-pointer to put the Suns up one point with 12.2 seconds left. James ran through him and knocked him down. Brooks got back up and stuck his chest out to ever-so-gently tap James.
A referee came over to stop the conflict from escalating any further. Brooks was ejected from the game.
“I just like to compete,” James said of going up against Brooks, via ESPN. “He’s going to compete. I’m going to compete. We’re going to get up in each other’s face. Try not to go borderline with it. I don’t really take it there. But we’re just competing and did that almost all the way to the end of the game.”
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Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) and Los Angeles Lakers forward Lebron James (23) react after a turnover during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Suns star Devin Booker supported Brooks’ intensity.
“Yeah, I mean there’s history there,” he said. “I love to see it. People always say everything’s too friendly in the NBA and then Dillon comes around and now it’s too much. So like I said, I’d rather it the other way — that it’d be too much.”
James scored 26 points on 8-of-17 from the field. Luka Doncic led Los Angeles with 29 points and six assists. The Lakers improved to 18-7 with the win.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) looks to shoot over Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, front left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
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Brooks had 18 points in 25 minutes. Booker led the team with 27 points and was 13-of-16 from the free-throw line. Phoenix is 14-12 on the year.
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Who’s going to beat them?
Who’s going to stop the unstoppable offense? Who’s going to score on the persistent defense? Who’s going to outwit the coaching genius?
Who can possibly halt the Rams on their thunderous march toward a Super Bowl championship?
After yet another jaw-dropping Sunday afternoon at a raucous SoFi Stadium, the answer was clear.
Nobody.
Nobody can spar with the Rams. Nobody can run with the Rams. Nobody can compete with the Rams.
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Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in their 41-34 victory over the Detroit Lions at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
Nobody is talented enough or deep enough or smart enough to keep the Rams from winning their second Super Bowl championship in five years.
Nobody. It’s over. It’s done. The Rams are going to win it all, and before you cry jinx, understand that this is just putting into words what many already are thinking.
The Rams’ second-half domination of the Detroit Lions in a 41-34 win should again make the rest of the league realize that nobody else has a chance.
The Seahawks? Please. The 49ers? No way. The Eagles? They’ve been grounded. The Bears? Is that some kind of a joke?
The Patriots? Not yet. The Broncos? Not yet. The Bills? Not ever.
The Rams trailed by 10 points at one juncture Sunday and then blew the Lions’ doors off in the second half to clinch a playoff berth for the seventh time in nine seasons under Sean McVay, setting them up for the easiest ride in sports.
With a win in Seattle on Thursday night — and, yes, they should beat a team that just barely survived Old Man Rivers — the Rams essentially will clinch the NFC’s top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
That means they have to win only two games at SoFi to advance to a Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. That means they can win a championship without leaving California, three games played in the sort of perfect climate that gets the best out of their precision attack.
And as Sunday proved once again, they’re good enough to win three essentially home playoff games against anybody.
“I love this team,” McVay said.
There’s a lot to love.
They have an MVP quarterback, the league’s most versatile two-headed running attack, an interior defense that gets stronger under pressure, and the one weapon that no team can match.
They have Puka Nacua, and nobody else does.
Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua is tackled by Detroit cornerback Amik Robertson during the second half Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Is he unbelievable or what? He is Cooper Kupp in his prime, only faster and stronger. He caught a career-high 181 yards’ worth of passes on yet another day when he could not be covered and barely could be tackled.
“He’s unbelievable,” McVay said. “He’s so tough, a couple of times he just drags guys with him … he epitomizes everything we want to be about … he’s like Pac-Man, he just eats up yards and catches.”
Pac-Man? The Rams even score on their old-school references.
In all, it was another Sunday of totally fun football.
They outscored the league’s highest-scoring team 20-0 at one point, they outrushed the league’s toughest backfield 159-70, they racked up 519 total yards against a team once thought destined for a championship.
And they did it with barely a smile. With the exception of Nacua repeatedly banging his fist to his chest — can you blame him? — the Rams are steady and steadfast and just so scary.
”All we want to do is go to work and find a way to be better,” said Matthew Stafford, who likely answered the crowd’s chants by clinching the MVP award with 368 yards and two touchdown passes. “It’s a fun group right now but we understand there’s more out there for us.”
Lots, lots, lots more.
This year a similar column appeared in this space regarding the Dodgers. By the first round of the playoffs, one just knew that they were going to run the table.
The same feeling exists here. The Rams look unrelenting, unfazed, unbeatable.
“Guys just kept competing, staying in the moment,” McVay said.
This moment belongs to them. One knew it Sunday by the end of the first half, which featured a Stafford interception and a struggling secondary and Jared Goff’s vengeful greatness and a 10-point Lions lead.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford passes in the first half of a 41-34 win over the Detroit Lions at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Then the Rams drove the ball nearly half of the field in 30 seconds in a push featuring Stafford and Nacua at their best. Stafford connected with Nacua on a brilliant 37-yard pass in the final moments that led to a Harrison Mevis 37-yard field goal to close the gap to seven.
“Right before that I told the guys, ‘Let’s go steal three,’” Stafford said.
Turns out, they stole a game.
“One of the key and critical sequences,” McVay said of that late first-half hammer, which led to a dazzling third quarter that finished the flustered Lions.
“We never panic,” Blake Corum said. “Because we know … what we have to bring to the table.”
What they’ve increasingly been bringing is a running attack that perfectly complements the awesome passing attack, as evidenced Sunday by Corum and Kyren Williams combining for 149 yards and three touchdowns.
The Lions’ more vaunted backfield of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery? Seventy yards and one score.
“We push each other to the limit,” Corum said of Williams.
Rams running back Kyren Williams stiff-arms Detroit Lions safety Erick Hallett II during the first half Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Potentially disturbing was how one noted Ram may have pushed past his limits, as receiver Davante Adams limped off the field early in the fourth quarter after apparently reinjuring his troublesome hamstring.
To lose him for the playoffs would be devastating, as he frees up space for Nacua and is almost an automatic touchdown from the five-yard line and closer.
Then again he’ll have a month to heal. And the Rams still have a bruising array of tight ends led Sunday by the touchdown-hot Colby Parkinson, who caught 75 yards’ worth of passes and two scores, including one inexplicable touchdown in which he clearly was down at the one-yard line.
The Rams got lucky there. But even if the right call was made, they would have scored on the next couple of plays. The way the Rams attacked, they could have been scoring all night.
“You knew that it was going to be that kind of game where there was some good back-and-forth,” McVay said. “You needed to be able to know that points were going to be really important for us, and our guys delivered in a big way.”
Just wait. By the time this season is done, McVay’s guys will have delivered a trophy representing something much bigger.
It rhymes with Strombardi.
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Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes will be out for the rest of the season as he suffered a torn ACL on Sunday in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, according to multiple reports.
Mahomes’ knee buckled while he was scrambling and as he was getting hit by Chargers defensive end Da’Shawn Hand. He was helped off the field and he limped to the locker room. An MRI reportedly confirmed the extent of the damage.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes grabs his knee after being injured during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
The quarterback wrote a message to fans as word of his injury trickled out.
“Don’t know why this had to happen,” Mahomes wrote on X. “And not going to lie (it) hurts. But all we can do now is Trust in God and attack every single day over and over again. Thank you Chiefs kingdom for always supporting me and for everyone who has reached out and sent prayers. I Will be back stronger than ever.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid offered a gloomy outlook for Mahomes as he spoke to reporters following the loss.
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Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Odafe Oweh (98) sacks Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) during the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Dec. 14, 2025. (Jay Biggerstaff/Imagn Images)
“… It didn’t look good,” Reid said when asked whether he knew if Mahomes’ injury was serious. “I mean you guys saw it. We’ll just see where it goes.”
The loss to the Chargers also meant the Chiefs will not be making the postseason. Kansas City made it to the AFC Championship each season since 2018. They made it to the Super Bowl in each of the last three seasons, winning two titles in that span.
Mahomes will finish the season with 3,398 passing yards and 22 touchdown passes.
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Kansas City is 6-8 on the year.
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