On International Women’s Day let’s take a moment to appreciate the two historic hires in the New York Mets organization, Elizabeth Benn and Gretchen Aucoin.
Benn was hired as director of MLB Operations for the Mets in late February. She is the highest-ranked female ops employee in franchise history.
Benn previously worked as the Senior Coordinator of Baseball Operations with MLB. She worked with MLB’s Take the Field initiative which was set up to help create job opportunities for women in areas of the game they are traditionally underrepresented, like coaching, scouting, player development, and baseball operations.
Benn was also the first woman to play in the New York City Metro Baseball League.
Aucoin has had a few more weeks on the job than Benn. She was hired by the Mets in early February. She got a chance to introduce herself to players and staff as the first-ever woman coach in Mets franchise history when Mets minor league camp began.
Aucoin will serve as a player development coach for the minor-league side and then go on to work with the St. Lucie Mets, once their season begins.
Benn and Aucoin join a movement that is growing within the major leagues. Kim Ng became the first female general manager in MLB history last year and Rachel Balkovec recently became the first woman to manage a Major League-affiliated team when she was hired to run the Tampa Tarpons.
Their jobs with the Mets will hopefully open other doors for women within the organization and the male-dominated baseball industry.
