Alyssa Nakken made MLB history by becoming the first woman to be hired as a coach to a major league staff when she was added to the Giants as an assistant coach in February.
Nakken could be used to the extra attention she’s getting, but she’s taking it in strides and remains humble with the spotlight, but that didn't stop her from lighting up seeing her name stitched on the back of an orange and black uniform.
“This is an amazing job for anybody, man or woman, or anyone,” Nakken said on MLB Network Radio during an appropriately titled segment: ‘The Most Influential Women in Baseball’. “And just for anyone advancing in their career, it’s exciting to take that next step.
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"So, I had all of those feelings, and then on the side, this is a historical moment.”
Despite breaking barriers, her journey, in the beginning, had nothing to do with gender. Back in February in an exclusive interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Amy Gutierrez, she said there wasn’t a moment where Giants manager Gabe Kapler talked about her being female.
She’s been a member of the organization since 2014 where she began as a baseball operations intern taking on every task from international scouting to planning postseason travel.
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She admitted she’s given blood, sweat and tears to the Giants and knows she can make an impact and immediately felt overwhelmed when she entered the clubhouse on the first day of spring training.
Nakken is used to seeing her name on a uniform from her days playing softball at Sacramento State, but this was different.
[RELATED: Giants players praise Nakken during spring training]
“I think it was just a little bit elevated of a feeling,” she continued. “I feel very humbled by the opportunity and, there’s a crazy amount of emotions that go into it, you know?”
Nakken, along with the rest of the baseball world, currently is on hiatus amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. She got a taste in Arizona of what she’s going to do should the season resume in 2020, and her uniform awaits her arrival.
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