SAN FRANCISCO, United States — Alyssa Nakken
created a piece of baseball history on Tuesday after becoming the first woman
to coach on-field in a Major League game as the
San Francisco Giants thrashed
the San Diego Padres.
اضافة اعلان
Nakken was brought on at first base in the third
inning after regular first-base coach Antoan Richardson was ejected at
Oracle Park in the Giants 13–2 win.
The 31-year-old Nakken was congratulated by Padres
first baseman Eric Hosmer after coming on to the field while Giants catcher
Curt Casali hugged her after the inning as she returned to the dugout.
Nakken was promoted from the Giants backroom staff
to assistant coach in January 2020 — the first woman to be appointed as a
full-time coach by a Major League Baseball team.
She served as a first-base coach in an exhibition
game against the
Oakland Athletics two years ago, but had never appeared in a
regular-season game.
“It was awesome, I’ve never felt any sort of lack of
support from this organization,” Nakken said after her appearance on Tuesday.
“It’s been awesome. This group in here is really
special. To go out there and be ready to step in for that moment was a no-brainer,
this is my job,” she added.
Nakken first joined the Giants backroom staff as an
intern in 2014, before going on to serve in different roles before her
promotion to the coaching staff.
Nakken’s career at the Giants has flourished with
the support of Giants manager Gabe Kapler.
Kapler, National League manager of the year after
guiding the Giants to a 107 wins in 2021, said in a recent interview that
Nakken was promoted because she was the best candidate for the coaching job.
“I think there’s always going to be question marks,
because people don’t have a good understanding of how valuable diversity can be
in leadership positions,” Kapler told ABC television’s San Francisco affiliate
KGO.
“It’s our belief that diversity and winning are very much
connected.”
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