As she took a morning stroll on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., this week while attending Slugfest, a three-day conference featuring top Major League Baseball hitting coaches, Rachel Balkovec paused to greet a fellow early riser.
Was she attending the conference? the woman asked.
Yes.
“Oh?” the woman replied. “Who are you married to?”
It was the kind of stereotypical response that Balkovec, 32, has been battling for years in baseball, and one that she hopes to continue to break down when she reports to Tampa on Feb. 1 to become a minor league hitting coach for the Yankees.