Long viewed as the person who would break baseball’s glass ceiling, Kim Ng was named general manager of the Miami Marlins on Friday, thus becoming the first woman in baseball history to lead a front office.
Ng, 51, was most recently M.L.B.’s senior vice president of baseball operations. In more than 30 years in baseball, she had been an assistant general manager for both the Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers, and earned praise at every stop.
“I entered Major League Baseball as an intern and, after decades of determination, it is the honor of my career to lead the Miami Marlins as their next general manager,” Ng said in a statement that accompanied the team’s announcement.
In addition to being the first woman to lead an M.L.B. front office, the statement from the Marlins said Ng is believed to be the first woman to hold the title of general manager for any of the major men’s professional sports leagues in North America.
Ng said her goal would be to bring championship baseball back to South Florida.
“This challenge is one I don’t take lightly,” she said. “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.”
Derek Jeter, the chief executive of the Marlins, was a player for the Yankees during Ng’s tenure there as an assistant general manager.
“Her leadership of our baseball operations team will play a major role on our path toward sustained success,” Jeter said in a statement. “Additionally, her extensive work in expanding youth baseball and softball initiatives will enhance our efforts to grow the game among our local youth as we continue to make a positive impact on the South Florida community.”
Ng takes over from Michael Hill, who helped build a team that made a surprise appearance in this year’s playoffs before being swept by the Atlanta Braves in a division series. Hill was not retained for the 2021 season.