There’s a new woman in Hall of Fame baseball player Derek Jeter’s life, but the details are more likely to land in the Wall Street Journal than in the gossip section of the New York tabloids. That’s because Jeter has named Kim Ng as general manager of the Miami Marlins, shattering a glass ceiling in sports.

The Miami Marlins have made history by hiring Kim Ng

Kim Ng, 51, has taken a Louisville Slugger to baseball’s glass ceiling.

The Miami Marlins made history on Friday by announcing they have hired Ng as their new general manager. She becomes the first female and first Asian American employee to hold the title with a Major League Baseball Club, potentially opening the door for many others to follow.

Ng has most recently worked for MLB as the senior vice president of baseball operations. She previously worked with the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers as an assistant general manager.

“On behalf of Principal Owner Bruce Sherman and our entire ownership group, we look forward to Kim bringing a wealth of knowledge and championship-level experience to the Miami Marlins,” Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter, the CEO of the Marlins, said in a statement. “Her leadership of our baseball operations team will play a major role on our path toward sustained success.”

Although the Marlins recently reached the postseason for the first time since winning the World Series in 2003, Jeter announced last month that Michael Hill would not return next season as president of baseball operations.

SNY reported that New York Mets president Sandy Alderson has interviewed Hill for a top position in the front office.

Who is Kim Ng, the new GM of the Miami Marlins?

Kim Ng, the new general manager of the Miami Marlins, has been in professional baseball for most of her adult life.

Raised in the metropolitan New York area by parents of Chinese descent, she earned a degree in public policy from the University of Chicago in 1990. The Chicago White Sox brought her into the front office as an intern following graduation, and she worked her way up to assistant director of baseball operations.

Ng made her first bit of history as the first woman and youngest person to present a salary arbitration case when she successfully represented the White Sox in 1995 against pitcher Alex Fernandez. Not only did she save the team $650,000, but she also defeated high-profile agent Scott Boras.

Ng moved on to work briefly in the American League office and then joined New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman’s staff in 1998, earning an assistant GM title at the age of 29.

The Los Angeles Dodgers hired Ng as an assistant general manager in 2001, and she interviewed for the top position in 2005. Ng continued to attract the interest of other MLB teams, but at that point anything less than a job as the general manager would have qualified as a horizontal move.

She is known to have interviewed with the Anaheim Angels, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, and Seattle Mariners, but none of those opportunities panned out. Looking for more executive experience, Ng left the Dodgers in 2011 to become the senior VP of baseball operations for MLB.

It’s a home run hire for Derek Jeter

“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,” Kim Ng said in the Miami Marlins’ statement announcing her hire as the general manager. “My goal is now to bring Championship baseball to Miami. I am both humbled and eager to continue building the winning culture our fans expect and deserve.”

The hire is a coup for Miami Marlins GM Derek Jeter. Most significantly, he is getting an executive who has earned the respect of peers while working her way up the ranks. The Marlins took a PR beating for purging veteran employees and cutting the payroll after Jeter’s ownership group took control in 2017, and hiring Ng is another step toward moving forward.

Jeter has taken a hit over the years over a playboy image that led to him bouncing from relationship to relationship with A-list women in the entertainment field, including Mariah Carey, Jessica Biel, and Minka Kelly. Jeter, who retired from the New York Yankees in 2014, married model Hannah Davis in 2016 and started a new phase in his career by taking control of the Marlins the following year.

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