could participate in Take The Field and they were
really excited to just get in front of the female job
candidates and meet them.
Major League Baseball also is investing more
in women’s baseball and softball events and
programs, looking to identify and establish contact
with women interested in working in the game.
Baseball’s increasing reliance on technology also is
creating more opportunities for women.
“It’s now become, it’s really not as much about
your playing background,” said Tyrone Brooks,
senior director of MLB’s on-field and managerial
diversity pipeline program. “It’s more about are
you having a skillset that can be applied in how
a team is going about trying to develop players.
Obviously, technology is now playing a bigger
and bigger role within player development.”
Folden, 33, is the founder of Folden Fastpitch,
a northwest Indiana company that provides
baseball and softball instruction based on
biomechanics, technology and data. Folden, one
of six siblings, played several sports while she
was growing up in California, and then was a star
slugger for Marshall University’s softball team.
Folden also has served as a hitting consultant
for Elite Baseball Training, which is run by Justin
Stone. While working together on a couple of
softball and baseball deals, Folden told Stone
she wanted to be involved on the baseball side.
So she got an opportunity to be around more
baseball people, something she really enjoyed.
Stone then took a position with the Cubs
in October.
“When he got hired as the director of hitting,
we were driving to Michigan to do a softball