Miami Marlins and MLB surrender at Kim Ng’s feet

Kim Ng is not just any businesswoman in charge of the Miami Marlins. She has unfailingly left her mark in the history of professional sports, specifically in the United States after becoming the first female general manager in that field, something that had never happened in Major League Baseball, NFL, NBA, Major League Soccer, nor in the NHL.

Although women like María José Rienda in organized sport in Spain or Fatma Samba Diouf in Fifa occupy important leadership positions, in the United States, strangely enough, it has never happened.

Who is Kim Ng?

The first thing to say is that she is not a stranger in this sector. Ng has been involved in Major League Baseball since 1990 and even served as the senior vice president of operations for the MLB commissioner's office since 2011.

The Marlins highlighted through the tweet with which they made official the arrival of the American of Asian descent, her journey through baseball, a not inconsiderable 30-year career distributed as follows: White Sox (1990-1996), Yankees (1998-2001), Dodgers (2002-2011) and in the MLB Commissioner's Office (2011-2020).

Ng is not one to keep quiet and immediately responded after her appointment: “My goal is to bring a title to Miami. I am humble and hungry to continue building a winning culture that our fans expect and deserve ”, reflected CNN in Spanish.

The Miami franchise hopes to have succeeded with NG whose objective will be to maintain the winning line that the team reached last season by advancing to the postseason for the first time since 2003, even reaching the Division Series in which they were eliminated by the Braves of Atlanta . This performance allowed Don Mattingly to be named manager of the year in the National League.

Ng, 51, recorded the unusual case in which a person of good reputation became part of the waters in which the so-called "sharks" of baseball move.

Dan Evans, the former GM who drafted Ng for the Dodgers, noted on Latimes.com that "people are really happy for her." Ng spent a decade at the reigning Major League Champion before heading into the League offices with Joe Torre.

Josh Rawitch, senior vice president of the Arizona Diamondbacks , was working in the Dodgers' public relations department at the time and recalled an anecdote from Ng after his appointment with Miami. “The Dodgers swept the Cubs to advance to the postseason and to celebrate, a group of 75-100 front desk staff gathered at a downtown bar. She (Ng) was the highest ranking person I had there, but she stood at the bar and motivated the crowd, which caused the employees to spray each other with alcohol ”, clearly alluding to the open personality of this woman , who is not a person who loses his temper, regardless of what happens around.

Its step by step

After graduating from the University of Chicago in 1990, the Chicago White Sox hired her as an intern. By 1996, she had developed a reputation as a negotiator and rose through the organization chain after winning an arbitration case, nothing more and nothing less than the well-known agent Scott Boras.

Although born in Indianapolis , Ng attended elementary school in Queens and high school in New Jersey. After learning about the game playing on the street, he became a shortstop on the University of Chicago softball team.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman hired Ng as an assistant manager in 1998 when he was just 29 years old. Between 1998 and 2002, the Yankees won three World Series titles and NG negotiated the contracts with Paul O'Neill, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter .

Since 2005, Ng had interviewed for a MLB general manager job more than half a dozen times and with long-standing organizations like the Phillies, Mets, Giants, Dodgers, Mariners and Padres .

"I said that if at the end of the day it did not happen, I was not going to see it as my career was a failure," Ng told The University of Chicago Magazine in statements later republished by ESPN. "That could be the opinion of others people, but it's not mine. I know how difficult it is and that is why I have been very lucky ”.

Also read: How much do women earn in different sports?

First in the US but not in the world
Ng made history in American professional sports, but she is not the first female manager in the sports world. In Spain, for example, the former skier María José Rienda is in charge of the Superior Sports Council, and in the Spanish Olympic Committee is Isabel Fernández , a gold medalist in judo at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, as first vice president.

The case with the most projection in the world was that of Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura in 2016. The Senegalese occupied the first position of the Forbes list of the most powerful women in international sport after being appointed general secretary of FIFA. That is, the person with the most power right behind President Gianni Infantino ,

Another case also linked to football is that of Lydia Nsekera , a native of Burundi , who in 2013 was the first woman elected by the FIFA Congress for a four-year period as a member of the Executive Committee of that organization.

In the case of the NBA , a female manager case is not yet in sight, but many believe that former player and coach Becky Hammon has the qualities for it after her successful time in the WNBA as a player and as an assistant for the San Antonio Spurs.