At age 25, Haley Alvarez has already been to the postseason with the University of Virginia Cavaliers, and major league baseball’s Oakland A’s. A couple weeks after a 97-win season, Oakland’s Scouting Coordinator is already looking at 2019.
“It doesn’t always go your way, but looking back on this year, I think it’s only something we can build on for the following year as we turn our attention to 2019,” said Alvarez, whose A's lost the American League Wild Card game to the New York Yankees. "I think that goes back to the great front office we have here – such a small group all work together to kind of collaborate and come up with new ideas.”
Alvarez always knew she wanted a career in baseball, which is becoming less of a male-dominated field through her work, and that of coach and Baseball for All founder Justine Siegal.
“It’s great to see that people are recognizing this is an opportunity – and can be a career path for women especially,” Alvarez said.
Before starting classes at UVA in the fall of 2011, she reached out to head baseball coach Brian O’Connor.
Working as a student manager for four years, Alvarez quickly figured out she wanted to be a scout. Her time with the Cavaliers included a 2014 trip to the College World Series, and return trip (when the team won the CWS Championship.)
“Just being in the dugout for every practice – and being there for every game, I just learned a lot of the on-field experience that I never would have learned anywhere else.”
The A’s are her third major league team, having also spent time with the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox. Alvarez got some training with the A’s scout school. Out of 60 students, she and roommate Amanda Hopkins (now a scout for the Seattle Mariners) were the only women in the class.
“I think we both look out for each other,” she said. “Within five minutes, people recognize that I understand a great deal about baseball, but I’m also working to learn more. There’s so much to learn in the game.”
Alvarez says she’d be thrilled to become first female general manager in the major leagues, but that’s a little says down the road.
“It’s hard to say,” she said. “Right now, I’m trying to gain as much exposure as I can to every department to become the mostwell-rounded person I can in this sport.”