Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

A woman in charge, and it's about time

A woman in charge, and it's about time

On the day she officially became a trailblazer in Major League Baseball, Kim Ng remembered the little girl who played stickball on the streets of Queens.
At the time her gender wasn’t nearly as big of an issue as knowing the layout of the field.

``First base would be the red car on the right, second base was the manhole,’’ she said. ``Those were great memories.’’

The layout has changed some for Ng, who sat next to home plate Monday at Marlins Park for the virtual press conference that coronated her historic appointment as the new general manager of the Miami Marlins. Behind her was an immaculate field, with nary a red car or manhole in sight.

In front of her is a job that for way too many years has been off-limits to anyone but a man.

That it took so long for Ng to get a job running one of MLB’s 30 teams was, sadly enough, no surprise. Baseball evolves slowly, and the idea that a woman could actually be in charge of a team was inconceivable to past generations.

Maybe the best thing about Ng’s appointment by the Derek Jeter and the Marlins is that a lot of other girls like the one who played stickball in Queens can have their own dreams, too.

``Girls can see it,’’ Ng said. ``There’s an adage you can’t be it if you can’t see it. I guess I would suggest to them now, now you can see it.’’

Indeed, Ng had the rare ability to see what her future was - and believe there was a path to the top even when others saw it as impossible. She went from playing stickball in Queens to playing softball in college. A career in baseball beckoned, even if it was in the front office and not on the field.

The problem was, baseball wasn’t quite ready. It took three decades for Ng to reach the top, and the biggest reason behind that had nothing to do with her ability to do the job.

She was hired as an intern by the Chicago White Sox and worked her way up over the years. But even after stints with the Yankees and as an assistant general manager for the Dodgers, no team was willing to hand Ng the reins.

At least five times over the last 15 years she was interviewed for jobs running teams. Some, she thought, never had any intention of hiring her in the first place.

“After so many times you feel delated and feel like maybe it’s not going to happen,’’ she said. ``Even if it hadn’t happened, I was never going to see my career as a failure.”

Sitting on a stool next to home plate in Miami, Ng spent the better part of an hour Monday trying to explain what it all meant. She embraced the idea that this was bigger than her getting the Marlins job, while celebrating at the same time her lifetime dream being realized a day before her 52nd birthday.

She’s got a lot of work ahead of her, even though the Marlins qualified for this year’s expanded playoffs for the first time since 2003. Ng will be expected to deliver a winner in Miami, a task made difficult by the fact the Marlins are perennially among the lowest spenders in baseball.

But this is a woman who was unafraid to give her opinion even as an intern with the White Sox. This is a woman who went up against super agent Scott Boras before she turned 30, winning an arbitration case she presented against pitcher Alex Fernandez.

This is a woman who knows baseball - and knows how to get things done.

``I was never hired to just nod my head,’’ she said. ``My biggest advice is voice your opinion.’’

The opinion among most in baseball is that the Marlins have a winner in Ng. Judging from the ease with which she handled her opening press conference they also have someone willing to be the face of the franchise should Jeter want to stay in the background.

Eventually she will be judged on how many games the Marlins win and whether they can make the playoffs on a regular basis. That’s something that comes with the territory of anyone who holds the title of general manager, a job that doesn’t come with a large amount of job security.

Ng is OK with that, just like she’s OK with being the role model for those coming after her. She embraces the role of pioneer and is unafraid of the challenges ahead.

Just the kind of general manager the Marlins need. Exactly the kind of role model girls everywhere deserve.

``Anything is possible, that’s my message to your little girl,’’ she said when asked yet again what she would say about her appointment to young girls. ``Just work your butt off and keep your nose to the grindstone.''
Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×