Kim Ng

MLB’s first female GM brings her street smarts to the front office

five times over the past 15 years, reports surfaced that Kim Ng was about to become the first female general manager in Major League Baseball. In 2005, she interviewed for the job with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2009, she was considered by the San Diego Padres. So it went, until last November, when Miami Marlins co-owner Derek Jeter finally gave her the nod. Ng, 52, calls the position a “dream,” even if it was excruciating each time she lost out to a man (which she says happened more than five times). “At the end of the day, you keep the faith, and just keep plugging away, because really, there’s no choice,” Ng says. Besides, she adds, “If you’re in baseball, you’re fairly measured. We play 162 games [a year]. To be emotional on a daily basis is not good for your health.”

Growing up in Queens, Ng played stickball and tennis, and learned a love of baseball from her dad, who rooted for the Yankees over their neighborhood Mets. After attending the University of Chicago, where she played Division III softball, she scored a gig with the White Sox, who needed an intern; she ended up staying for six years. Her career then took her from the office of the American League to her beloved Yankees, where she served as assistant GM to Brian Cashman, to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and to SVP of baseball operations for MLB. All the while, Ng never gave up on the hope that she’d make her way to the top. “I’ve always had to elbow my way in,” she says. “At times it has been uncomfortable, but you have to do it. You want to play stickball with the guys, you just have to get through it.”