San Francisco Giants coach Alyssa Nakken is officially in the Hall of Fame

San Francisco Giants assistant coach Alyssa Nakken is officially a part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame

Alyssa Nakken became the first woman to have a full-time coaching role in the MLB and became the first woman to coach on the field during a major league game. Nakken is a member of the San Francisco Giants coaching staff and coached first base during an exhibition game prior to the 2020 regular season. As you could imagine, this is an outstanding moment in history so the National Baseball Hall of Fame is now displaying the gray road jersey she wore on July 23rd.

A little backstory on Nakken, she played first base for Sacramento State and was named an Academic All American four times, all-conference selection three times, Commissioner’s Honor Roll member four times, and 2012 conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Nakken was also the chief information officer for the University of San Francisco baseball team and earned her Master’s Degree in Sport Management from USF.

Alyssa Nakken joined the San Francisco Giants organization as a baseball operations intern in 2014. Her main areas of focus now include directing a number of the organization’s health and wellness initiatives. 2020 has been a historic year for women in the MLB and Nakken led the way. Melanie Newman became the Baltimore Orioles’ first female play-by-play broadcaster, and very recently Kim Ng became the first female general manager of an MLB team.

Alyssa Nakken’s gray jersey in Cooperstown is an important part of MLB history and will help pave the way for many more women to work in the MLB. We are seeing more doors opening in baseball, and even around the entire sports world.

I would not be surprised if we see her name more and more in the future, because she is just getting started. Kim Ng had a long path to such a vital role for the Miami Marlins, and I expect Nakken to continue to work her way up just like Ng.