New San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler filled out the final couple spots on his staff Thursday. In doing so, the former Philadelphia Phillies skipper made history.
According to Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco has brought on the first full-time female coach in Major League Baseball history.
Listed as an assistant coach, Alyssa Nakken comes to the Giants after starring locally on the Sacramento State softball team. She was joined by Mark Hallberg as the two most-recent hires for Kapler’s staff.
“Alyssa and Mark are highly respected members of the organization and I’m delighted that they will now focus their talents on helping to build a winning culture in the clubhouse,” Kapler said in a statement.
This comes after San Francisco interviewed Rachel Balkovec for a job on the big league staff. She just recently joined the New York Yankees organization as a minor league coach, becoming the first full-time hitting coach for a MLB franchise.
It goes without saying that glass ceilings are harder to crash through in baseball than other major professional sports leagues. At the very least, this appears to be as start.