A Major League First

In a historic breakthrough for women in sports, Kim Ng was recently named the general manager of the Miami Marlins. Ng (pronounced Ang) is the first woman—and only the second person of Asian descent—to hold a team’s top leadership position in Major League Baseball (MLB).

She is also the first female full-time general manager in any of the four major pro sports leagues in the U.S. They include MLB, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, and the National Basketball Association.

“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,” Ng said in a statement.

Ng traces her family’s roots to China. Her love of baseball began when she was a kid. She grew up playing stickball, a version of baseball, on the streets of Queens, in New York City. She went on to play softball at the University of Chicago, where she was named her team’s most valuable player. 

Her 30-year career in baseball began after college with the Chicago White Sox. There, she began to learn the ins and outs of running a major league team. 

She later held high-ranking jobs with the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. With the Yankees, Ng helped build the teams that won three World Series championships.

Former All-Star Derek Jeter is now a co-owner of the Marlins. He played for the Yankees when Ng worked for the team, and he admired her knowledge of the game. When the Marlins needed a general manager, Jeter knew that Ng was the right person for the job.

“She’s the only person I called,” he told the Today show. 

In her new position, Ng wants to help show young women what’s possible for them to achieve. 

“There is an adage: ‘You can’t be it if you can’t see it,’ ” Ng says. “Now you can see it.”