Ng said her patience and perseverance were key to her not giving up on her dream of becoming a GMGETTY IMAGES
The Marlins on Friday hired Kim Ng as their GM, and Ng this morning said becoming the first female GM in major pro sports is a "symbol for so many women who are out there just trying to work their way up to the top.” Appearing on CBS this morning, Ng was asked if there is added pressure now that she has ascended to the GM role. She said, "Before I got the job, it feels like this 10,000 pound weight went from the left shoulder and now that I’ve got the job, it’s now transferred to the right shoulder because whatever I do, I’ve just got to do it well" (“CBS This Morning,” 11/16). Ng was asked if she ever doubted that she would get a GM position: “Absolutely. I’ve interviewed numerous times for this position. I think after maybe a handful you start thinking, ‘Well, maybe this isn’t going to happen,’ and that belief persisted for quite some time until ... this happened.” ABC's Robin Roberts said Marlins CEO Derek Jeter is “your Branch Rickey” (“GMA,” ABC, 11/16). Ng said it “was patience and perseverance” in getting to this point because “after the first handful of times, you do, you get a little bit dejected." Ng: “But I think there’s no other choice but to keep going on and to keep pushing through" (“Today,” NBC, 11/16).
BANNER DAY FOR MARLINS: MLB Network's Ken Rosenthal, on Ng’s impact on the Marlins, said, “It elevates them. It forces people to look at them now in a different light. This is a team that’s had a lot of losing seasons and had an incredible 2020 season for good reasons and bad. ... She comes into this situation, inherits this team on the rise, and we’ll see what she can do. Now comes the tough part, of course. She’s got to do the job, and the job is fraught with peril.” Rosenthal: “She is dogged. She is determined. She is incredibly smart, and she will be someone who we are all looking at for quite some time. That makes the Marlins a different franchise than they were 24 hours ago” (“MLB Tonight,” MLB Network, 11/13).
BREAKING BARRIERS: ESPN’s Jeff Passan noted baseball "loves to look back on its history, especially with Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier and really helping integrate America." While Ng becoming GM of the Marlins is not a moment "anywhere close to that, inside of the sporting world, when you look around at what’s believed to be the four major sports, ... we’ve never seen it.” Passan: “Going forward, this idea that there’s some kind of a glass ceiling that’s still there in sports, it’s just not true. Hopefully, owners around all the other sports look at what the Miami Marlins and Derek Jeter did here and say that our candidate poll is now not just men, but men and women and everyone out there" (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 11/14). Former Dodgers GM Ned Colletti said, “I’ve had opportunities in the past to talk to other clubs about getting back in the game at a presidential role in the baseball operations side, and they say, ‘What would your front office look like?’ I say, ‘We’re going to start with Kim Ng as a general manager, and you’ll have the most diverse front office in baseball’” (“MLB Tonight,” MLB Network, 11/13).
CONGRATS FROM COLLEAGUES: Former MLB Exec Dan Evans, who hired Ng as an intern for the White Sox, then as an Assistant GM for the Dodgers, said, "The Marlins didn’t hire her as a woman. They hired her because she’s the most qualified person for the job. In my mind, she has been a number of times. The ownership groups who interviewed her just weren’t ready for whatever reason" (THEATHLETIC.com, 11/13). Pirates Int'l Scouting Fellow Astrid DeGruchy, who has had a relationship with Ng since '13: "She’s always told me to keep fighting. And literally everything she’s said, she’s done it. Continue with the persistence. Continue not taking no for an answer. Try to seize every opportunity that’s given to you." Meanwhile, Pirates GM Ben Cherington said of Ng's hiring, "I hope this helps women in baseball feel confident to express themselves, express their views and make the arguments they want to make." He added, "It’s a flag in the ground" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 11/16).
