Alyssa Naken broke another historic barrier Tuesday night, becoming the first woman to serve as a coach on the field in an MLB game during the Giants’ game against Padres at Oracle Park.
Naken took over as the Giants’ first head coach at the top of the third inning after Antoine Richardson was sent off from the game by third base referee and team manager Greg Gibson. It’s unclear why Richardson was sent off, but it paved the way for Naken to provide her first on-court training with the Giants, who appointed the 31-year-old as assistant coach in January 2020.
Players on both teams seemed to understand the significance of Naken’s historic appearance, as she appeared to have been congratulated by Padres’ first base officer Eric Hosmer and received a huge hug from Giants hunter Kurt Casale when she came back away at the end of the third half. The crowd also gave him a warm welcome as he entered the square.
The Giants prepared Nakin for a potential field coaching job, as she once did in a first base exhibition match against Oakland Athletics two years ago.
Naken became the first female coach for a major league team when she was hired as an assistant coach by Giants manager Gabe Kapler in 2020.
Naken played first base for the Sacramento State softball team from 2009-2012, scoring three games. all conference And four academic notes. All Americans during his university career. She earned her master’s degree in sports management from the University of San Francisco in 2015. Naken joined the Giants as a trainee in baseball operations in 2014, and worked in a variety of management roles prior to her historic assignment to the staff.
Taking over as head coach tonight:
Alyssa Neken 🧡🤍 pic.twitter.com/YN7vpYnu7q
– SFGiants (SFGiants) April 13, 2022
