Baseball executive Kim Ng, shown at a youth promotional event for Major League Baseball, became general manager of the Miami Marlins in 2020.
Credit: © Rob Leiter, MLB Photos/Getty Images

On November 13, the Major League Baseball (MLB) team the Miami Marlins named Kim Ng as general manager, making her the first woman hired to run a major league team’s operations. As general manager, Ng’s responsibilities include making trades, negotiating contracts, and running the team’s draft. Ng’s appointment is significant not only for baseball, but for all sports—Ng became the first woman general manager in any major North American men’s professional sports league.

In 1990, Ng began working for the Chicago White Sox as an intern. Seven years later, she left the White Sox for the American League office. (The National League and American League kept separate offices until owners voted to consolidate their management in 1999.) At the American League office, she served as the director of waivers and records. At age 29, she became the youngest assistant general manager, when she joined the New York Yankees in 1998. In 2002, she moved to the West Coast, serving as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ vice president and assistant general manager. In 2011, she became the senior vice president of operations for MLB. She worked in this role until her appointment as the general manager of the Marlins in 2020.

Ng was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, but she grew up in Queens, one of the five boroughs (districts) of New York City. Despite growing up close to the home of the New York Mets, she became a Yankees fan. She graduated from Ridgewood High School in New Jersey in 1986. She then attended the University of Chicago, where she played softball. She graduated in 1990 with a degree in public policy.