MIAMI — She has spent three decades in Major League Baseball front offices and as one of the sport's rising executives in baseball operations. She spent the past 15 of those years on the cusp of history only to be rejected time and time again.
Kim Ng's time has finally come. On Friday, she broke one of MLB's biggest glass ceilings.
The Miami Marlins hired Ng as the fifth general manager in the franchise' 28-year history.
She is the highest-ranking woman in baseball operations among MLB's 30 teams and the second person of Asian-American descent to run a baseball team, joining the San Francisco Giants' president of baseball operations Farhad Zaidi with that distinction.
She is also believed to be the first woman hired to a general manager position by any professional men's sports team in North America's major leagues, although the Portland Mavericks, who were part of the Class A short-season Northwest League in the 1970s but did not have an MLB affiliation, hired Lanny Moss to be their general manager in 1974. That team dissolved in 1977.
Ng's hire also comes a year after three female coaches — Alyssa Nakken with the Giants, Rachel Balkovec with the New York Yankees, Rachel Folden with the Chicago Cubs — were hired to join major-league staffs.
"This challenge is one I don't take lightly," Ng, who turns 52 on Tuesday and will be formally introduced in a Zoom press conference on Monday, said in a Friday press release announcing her hire. "When I got into this business, it seemed unlikely a woman would lead a Major League team, but I am dogged in the pursuit of my goals. My goal is now to bring Championship baseball to Miami. I am both humbled and eager to continue building the winning culture our fans expect and deserve."
She's also the newest addition to a Marlins front office that values diversity. Three of the Marlins' top four executive positions are held by a biracial man (CEO Derek Jeter) and two women (Ng as general manager and Caroline O'Connor as chief operating officer). Adam Jones, the Marlins' chief revenue officer, is the fourth.
Ng (pronounced ANG) replaces Michael Hill, who had been with the Marlins organization since 2002 and was the franchise's president of baseball operations since 2013. Hill, who is Black and Cuban, also previously served as general manager for six seasons.
"All of us at Major League Baseball are thrilled for Kim and the opportunity she has earned with the Marlins," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "Kim's appointment makes history in all of professional sports and sets a significant example for the millions of women and girls who love baseball and softball. The hard work, leadership and record of achievement throughout her long career in the National Pastime led to this outcome, and we wish Kim all the best as she begins her career with the Marlins."
