In a pointed letter to teams last week, Major League Baseball said that many clubs fall below the high standards necessary for women who are part of the game's traveling parties to do their jobs.
The MLB senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill sent a letter to general managers, assistant general managers and some ballpark-operations staff that highlighted the issues of women. Women staffers for home and road teams are required to have a clean locker room that is close to the main clubhouse and includes a bathroom and shower.
Over the first six weeks of the season, it has become clear that a number of clubs are not in compliance with the requirements.
Multiple women affected by substandard facilities spoke to the sports network on the condition that they not be named. The women said that they spend a lot of time planning trips to other areas of the stadium because they have to walk to the bathroom in other areas of the stadium. One woman said a female colleague told her that finding the bathroom was the most difficult part of her job.
The women said that the issues of restrooms and work spaces are not the only ones of belonging. Female traveling employees are often placed in auxiliary media areas, rooms designed to hold visiting families or other spaces far from the main locker room -- places that are entirely separate from the close quarters of a clubhouse in which teams congregate. Multiple women said that a long-term goal is to eventually start a conversation about the use of the space and the possibility of changing it.
Some women in the game have been silent about the inequity, but others registered their concerns with the league about the facilities at multiple stadiums, prompting the MLB's issuance of the memo. According to sources, not all 30 teams have women in their traveling parties, but somewhere between a dozen and two dozen women are believed to regularly travel and use stadium facilities.
The league said it was unacceptable that women who are traveling as part of the visiting team are not given the same accommodations as their male colleagues. Some women are choosing not to travel to certain cities with their Club on the road because of the working environment they create. MLB regulations state that clubs that do not provide appropriate workplace accommodations for personnel regardless of gender violate the regulations, and that they deprive women of equal access to participate in our great game and discourage qualified women from participating in baseball roles traditionally held by men.
The only woman on a major league coaching staff is the San Francisco Giants assistant hitting coach. The manager of the New York Yankees minor league team is a woman. Minor league teams are expected to accommodate women just like major league teams, according to a league official. Sources said that in a number of minor league stadiums, one room is set aside for all women involved in games, which could lead to situations in which employees from both teams and an umpire would have to share the space.
Women in traveling parties told the sports network that big league stadiums don't provide the right facilities for their jobs. A female employee was forced to open the door multiple times when the bathroom next to the dugout did not have a lock.
The Texas Rangers stadium, Globe Life Field, which opened in 2020 and is planned for spaces large enough for multiple women and include a private bathroom and shower, is the gold standard, they said.
In the memo, MLB asked teams to provide detailed floor plans, descriptions and photographs of potential changes by June 3, but it did not give any information on potential repercussions for teams that do not abide by the regulations.
The memo said that space constraints in some ballparks may limit Clubs ability to adhere to these requirements.
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