While San Francisco Giants fans may have enjoyed her team's 13-2 home win over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night, a victory of a different kind occurred when Giants assistant coach Alyssa Naken took over as first base coach. , who became the first woman to become a coach. Grounds in Major League Baseball History.
After the Giants' regular first-base coach Anton Richardson was kicked out of the game at the top of the third inning, Nakken was called in to replace him.
This became another milestone for the coach who was already the first full-time female coach in the league. Nakkan became the assistant coach in 2020 after working in the front office of the team.
This was not Nakkan's first time on base. He made an appearance for the Giants during an exhibition game in 2020, but this was the first time he was coached during a regular season game.
Nakken, who plays first base for Sacramento State's softball team, has years of experience in the position, making it a no-brainer for bench coach Kai Korea to call him out after Richardson's disapproval. But for the Giants assistant coach, Tuesday night was just another day at the office.
According to MLB.com, Naken said, "I've been training as a first base coach for the past few years. I work with Anton, so I stepped into the work I did."
Although he tried to downplay the achievement, the moment was not lost on the players. Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer made sure to shake hands to greet him. When she returned to the dugout, Giants catcher Kurt Casali gave her a big hug.
And for baseball, Tuesday night was a step forward for the league as it continues its emphasis on diversification.
Naiken's milestone comes just three months after the New York Yankees made history by hiring Rachel Balkovec, the first female minor league manager, who made her managerial debut with a Yankees Single-A affiliate in Tampa last week.
For years, MLB has sought to diversify the league's on-field and operational status by introducing programs such as its Diversity Pipeline and Diversity Fellowship Program.
And it takes time for such programs to flourish, but the league undoubtedly sees these as encouraging signs.