Alyssa Nakken to coach MLB, makes history

Alyssa Nakken to coach MLB, makes history
23/01/2020
A former softball star, Alyssa Nakken has been with the San Francisco Giants since 2014. She will focus on the clubhouse culture.

Alyssa Nakken, a former Sacramento State softball star, will become the first woman to coach full time in Major League Baseball (MLB). She has been hired as an assistant under San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler, who announced that Nakken, together with Mark Hallberg, will "focus on fostering a clubhouse culture that promotes high performance through, among other attributes, a deep sense of collaboration and team."

Nakken will wear a baseball uniform, but won't be in the dugout for the San Francisco Giants games. The maximum number of coaches allowed during an MLB game is seven and Gabe Kapler will have on the field bench coach Kai Correa, pitching coach Andrew Bailey, hitting coach Donnie Ecker, first base coach Antoan Richardson, third base coach Ron Wous and bullpen coach Craig Abernaz. The MLB staff for the San Francisco Giants is made of 17 coaches.

Nakken was born in Woodland, California, on 13 June 1990 - exactly one year before women's softball became an Olympic sport. She thus celebrates her birthday on Softball Day.
She graduated from her home town high school before becoming a softball star at Sacramento State University, playing first base. By the time she graduated in 2012, she was in the top 10 for most home runs and runs scored in team history.

Nakken joined the Giants in 2014 as an intern in baseball operations and worked her way up. She recently spearheaded health and wellness initiatives and worked to promote diversity within the organization. In 2015 she earned a master's degree in Sports Management from the University of San Francisco.

Justine Segal, the first-ever woman to coach in men's baseball, tweeted her support to Nakken.

The cover picture is courtesy of the Sacramento Bee.

Related article: Po Chun Liu earns IOC Women and Sport top award