Joseph Guzy, Miami Marlins/AP
Kim Ng is finally leading the Miami Marlins front office herself. After 30 years present in baseball and being an assistant manager, Ng got the well-deserved position, becoming the first female baseball general manager ever!
Huge Resume
Kim Ng has been in baseball for a long time, breaking the stigma around women in sports. Over thirty years ago she became an intern for the Chicago White Sox – her first position in baseball. Now, at 51, she made her way up to be the first female GM ever. Ng went through the Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers, then being the Major League Baseball’s senior vice president of baseball operations first. “This challenge is one I don’t take lightly,” she said in a statement. “When I got into this business, it seemed unlikely a woman would lead a major league team, but I am dogged in the pursuit of my goals.”
But Ng’s achievement goes further than just baseball. She is the first woman to be a general manager in any of the major men’s sports leagues in North America, to be exact. Fairly, many people think that she should’ve gotten the position way earlier, as many women are breaking norms regarding male-dominated sports all over the world. The new GM will be taking the lead role in making trades, negotiating contracts, running the team’s draft, and managing its moves in free agency apart from other important tasks.
Cheering For The New General Manager
“I felt from 15 years ago that she was always the best candidate for the job, and for whatever reason, people weren’t prepared to make that move,” said Dan Evans. He was the one to hire Ng for her first job in 1990. “So I congratulate the Marlins, because this is not just a baseball move, this is a generational move. Young women throughout the world view Kim differently today, and this gives them hope that that platform could be theirs someday.” It seems like all people around Ng think that she deserved the job. Derek Jeter, who saw her work in progress while she was an assistant general manager to Brian Cashman, said that she is the best decision-maker on his baseball operations staff.
Thousands of female softball and baseball fans celebrated Ng’s hiring for Miami Marlins, and many women in baseball-operations jobs discussed it in the group chats. All of them look up to the new manager and treat her as their icon. Jen Wolf, 33, was the founder of one of those groups – she’s also a life-skills coordinator in the Cleveland Indians’ farm system. Wolf met Ng on a conference first, then working for her Ng in Major League Baseball’s central office. She said that having a female boss, especially the one this powerful was a life-changing experience. Her first thought was happiness for Ng. “And then my second thought was: it’s about time,” Wolf said. “Anyone with her résumé should have been hired years ago, so I’m very excited. I feel like males with a similar résumé would have been hired ages ago.”
“To be a G.M. in Major League Baseball, you need intelligence, vision, and experience,” said Jean Afterman, the Yankees’ assistant general manager. “These qualities of leadership, which Kim possesses in abundance, are gender-blind.”
Sources: Good News Network, NY Times
