Kim Ng: Maverick to General Manager

Kim Ng’s hiring as the first female general manager in MLB history was long overdue. 

Ng has worked in baseball front offices for thirty years, breaking barriers every step of the way. She was just 26 years old when she defeated super-agent Scott Boras in an arbitration case, and 29 when she joined the Yankees to become baseball’s youngest assistant GM in 1998. 

Now, just days shy of her 52nd birthday, she has finally attained her lifelong goal of running a major league team. 

Ng’s story is one of persistence and tenacity. Back in 2003, she appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the 38th-most influential minority in sports. “Write it down: Ng may become baseball’s first female GM,” the magazine said in its profile. It’s been 17 years since that issue was released, and women remain largely underrepresented in Major League Baseball and its media coverage. 

While there are still glass ceilings left to shatter, Ng is one of several women to have broken new ground in baseball this year. Slowly but surely, more women are being granted opportunities that they were denied in years past. 

Alyssa Nakken: Diamond in the Rough

It would be impossible to review baseball’s female trailblazers of 2020 without a mention of Nakken. The former Sacramento State softball standout joined the Giants coaching staff in January, becoming the first full-time female coach of an MLB team. Nakken, who has a master’s degree in sport management from the University of San Francisco, had previously interned in the Giants’ baseball operations department and worked for the team on health and wellness initiatives. When Nakken entered an exhibition game as a first base coach on July 20th, she made history as the first woman to appear as an on-field coach in the major leagues.

Nakken is one of a handful of women that have entered the professional coaching ranks in recent years, a list that includes Yankees minor league hitting instructor Rachel Balkovec.

Melanie Newman: Voice of a New Generation

Newman called her first Orioles game on the radio in Spring Training, but her official play-by-play debut was delayed several months by the coronavirus pandemic. In August, Newman was behind the mic when the O’s took on the Marlins, making her the first woman to call an Orioles regular season game. She is one of just four active female game broadcasters in Major League Baseball, along with Jessica Mendoza (ESPN), Suzyn Waldman (Yankees), and Jenny Cavnar (Rockies).

Newman previously provided play-by-play at the minor league level, where she covered teams such as the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders and the Class-A Salem Red Sox. 

Alex Cohen: Billion Dollar Benefactor

Hedge fund guru Steve Cohen has been the subject of rabid media attention since it became clear he would replace Fred and Jeff Wilpon as primary owner of the Mets. As it turns out, Cohen’s wife Alex will also play a significant role in the organization. Alex Cohen, who grew up in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, owns her own stake in the club. Already heavily involved in community outreach and philanthropic efforts through the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, Cohen will now run the Mets Foundation as well. Her achievements as a philanthropist and fundraiser include committing over $50 million to research of Lyme and other tickborne diseases. The foundation also donated $75 million to New York-Presbyterian to establish the Alexandra Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns. Overall, Cohen has twenty years of fundraising experience at the billionaire level.

The original Mets owner, Joan Payson, was the first woman to own a major league team in North America without inheriting it. Alex Cohen’s current involvement with the organization is a reminder of how women have shaped baseball history and will continue to do so in the years to come.

Searle’s Final Say

Kim Ng’s hiring is a major win for women in baseball, but truth be told, she should have received this opportunity much sooner. Baseball largely remains a boy’s club, especially in front offices. The good news is that women like those mentioned above are making their voices heard throughout the game. This year’s NL Cy Young winner — Trevor Bauer — is represented by a woman (Rachel Luba), while another trailblazer, Jessica Mendoza, became the first woman to serve as an analyst on a World Series broadcast. Other women like Mariners trainer Amanda Lee are redefining baseball excellence.

The day is fast approaching when it will no longer be a rarity for women to hold certain positions in baseball — and the game will benefit as a result.