Today we are all Marlins fans.
Earlier today, it was announced that the Miami Marlins have hired Kim Ng (pronounced ‘ing’) as their new General Manager. Ng will become the first female general manager not only in baseball but across all four major men’s sports leagues.
Before I get into what this means for women in the sports world, I would like to highlight the incredible resume of Ng, and why she is an excellent fit to help the Marlins move forward in their pursuit of a championship. A University of Chicago graduate, Ng has a long history of success in Major League Baseball. She started as an intern and has worked her way up to where she is now over her career. She served as the assistant GM for the Yankees from 1998-2001 and for the Dodgers from 2002-2011. In her over thirty-year career, she has helped teams to eight postseason appearances, six league championships, and three world series wins. She also served in the commissioner’s office up until this hiring. Ng has worked her way up to this and is an excellent choice to help move this franchise forward.
When it comes to what this means for women in sports, I think @Cut4 put it best.
This hire truly breaks the glass ceiling in the sports world. For so long, there had always seemed to be a barrier that women couldn’t cross in the sports world. I can’t claim to speak from personal experience as to what this means for women, but I know that this struggle has been here forever. I have taken classes on the sociology of sport, which in part detailed the struggle women have had getting to this point. Yet, I still can’t say that I know how much this means for women around the world. An example of how the glass ceiling existed is evident in some of the responses to this news, as people are asking for her qualifications immediately. There is inherent sexism in the sports world, where people believe that a woman can’t be as knowledgeable as men when it comes to sport. This hire should change that. Representation matters and this will now show that women can reach the highest platform in sports. This is bigger than baseball. It will change the way all major sports league teams operate.
The writing was on the wall for this hire. First, Ng was the assistant GM when Jeter played for the Yankees. They maintained a close relationship, as it is rumored her name was one of the first Jeter considered back in 2017. Jeter has always been a fan of Ng, so this hiring makes a ton of sense. Furthermore, last year showed that women were about to break into the game in a big way. The San Francisco Giants hired the first full time female coach in the history of the sport. Alyssa Nakken helped poke a hole in the glass ceiling. Ng shattered it by reaching the highest level in professional baseball.
The Marlins #FlippedTheM, not only because this is a huge W for the team and Major League Baseball, but also quite literally from (M)en to (W)omen.
