Kim Ng with Tommy Lasorda in 2005. Jon Soohoo / Contributor Getty Images
When Alyssa Nakken’s Giants and Kim Ng’s Marlins face off in 2021, there will be a lot of young girls seeing that prominent roles in baseball are less for dreaming and more for taking.
Ng, MLB’s senior vice president of baseball and softball development, was hired Friday as Miami’s new general manager, the first woman to have that title in Major League Baseball history, the first Asian American GM, the first female GM for a men’s team in a major North American sport.
“I entered Major League Baseball as an intern and, after decades of determination, it is the honor of my career to lead the Miami Marlins as their next general manager,” Ng said in a statement released by the team.
The 51-year-old Ng has more than 30 years of experience in the majors in a variety of roles for a variety of clubs. She worked in the White Sox front office beginning in 1990, promoted eventually to assistant director of baseball operations. She worked with the Yankees starting in 1998 as assistant general manager, where she overlapped with Miami CEO Derek Jeter. She unfortunately joined the Dodgers in 2002 as assistant GM. She had worked in the commissioner’s office since 2011 and now will go where no woman has gone before.
“This challenge is one I don’t take lightly,” Ng said. “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.
“My goal is to bring championship baseball to Miami. I am both humbled and eager to continue building the winning culture our fans expect and deserve.”
She will lead a team that shocked its way to a second-place finish in the NL East last season, getting swept by the Braves in the playoffs.
Just like Nakken, an assistant coach with the Giants, worked her way to her shot, Ng has built a resume that had brought many GM interviews before finally landing one.
“All of us at Major League Baseball are thrilled for Kim and the opportunity she has earned with the Marlins,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement of Ng, who was born in Indianapolis. “Kim’s appointment makes history in all of professional sports and sets a significant example for the millions of women and girls who love baseball and softball. The hard work, leadership, and record of achievement throughout her long career in the National Pastime led to this outcome, and we wish Kim all the best as she begins her career with the Marlins.”