In honor of International Women’s Day (March 8), I thought it would be a good time to highlight some women who work in Major League Baseball, and specifically a few of the women that currently work across MLB teams, and have made history in the process.
- Alyssa Nakken
The first woman I wanted to highlight is Alyssa Nakken, who is the first woman to be named a full-time MLB coach. Her official title with the San Francisco Giants is assistant coach, and she was named to the position in January 2020. Nakken has been with the Giants for a while, though, and was a part of the baseball operations department for the team for six years, along with several different front office roles. Nakken also has her own illustrious softball career during her time at Sacramento State University, where she was a four-time all-Pacific Coast Softball Conference selection.
- Kim Ng
Kim Ng made headlines over this past offseason when she was hired as the General Manager of the Miami Marlins, making her the first female GM in Major League Baseball. If that wasn’t enough, her role now makes her the first female GM in a major North American men’s professional sports league. She interned with the Chicago White Sox 30 years ago, when she was just 21 years old. She began working her way up to different front office roles with teams across the league and became the youngest assistant GM with the Yankees when she was 29. She more than earned her role with the Marlins, and was even passed on five different times after she interviewed for GM roles with other teams.
- Bianca Smith
Bianca Smith, along with the next woman to be highlighted, are the most recent hires of the women mentioned in this article. Smith made history just a couple of months ago as the first black female baseball coach when the Red Sox hired her as a minor league coach. She will be spending time at the team’s player development facility. Her current job is assistant coach and hitting coordinator at Carroll University in Wisconsin. She has a huge focus on analytics and using technology as a tool for hitters, and has expressed interest in the number of resources she will be able to use with the Red Sox.
