Courtesy of the Giants
The Giants’ coaching staff, filled with mostly 30-somethings, already was unique in its youth.
It’s now historic.
The Giants completed their staff Thursday in hiring two assistant coaches, Mark Hallberg and Alyssa Nakken, the latter of whom will become the first woman on a major league coaching staff.
Nakken and Hallberg will be tasked primarily with being in charge of the culture of the club and will watch how coaches coach, how players absorb those lessons and how best to keep everyone happy and progressing.
Nakken, a four-time Academic All-American softball player at Sacramento State, will be the owner of a unique role and the first woman to hold such a title. She’s been with the organization since 2014 and, according to the team’s release, has been “responsible for developing, producing and directing a number of the organization’s health and wellness initiatives and events, including coordinating the Giant Race series.” Nakken, who got her master’s degree in sport management from the University of San Francisco in 2015, also worked in the baseball operations department.
Hallberg, meanwhile, was manager of Low-A Salem-Keizer last season and had been the team’s fundamentals coach the previous season. A former minor leaguer and teacher, Hallberg holds a masters in business administration.
“Alyssa and Mark are highly respected members of the organization and I’m delighted that they will now focus their talents on helping to build a winning culture in the clubhouse,” Gabe Kapler said in the statement. “In every organization, environment affects performance, and baseball clubhouses are no different. That’s why in addition to assisting the rest of the coaching staff on the field, Mark and Alyssa will focus on fostering a clubhouse culture that promotes high performance through, among other attributes, a deep sense of collaboration and team.”
This staff — which is finally finished at 13 coaches beneath Kapler — will be unlike anything MLB has seen.