Marlins general manager Kim Ng, as you may have heard, is the first female general manager in any of the four major North American men’s professional sports leagues. She is the first person of East Asian descent to be a GM in Major League Baseball. Her hiring in November 2020 made national headlines and things never really settled down. For years, the demands on her time were relentless, no matter how hard the Marlins staff tried not to overwhelm her.
For a while, everything Ng did was a first, from the meaningful to the mundane. The first female GM to meet the trade deadline or sip water and sit in her suite at LoanDepot Park on a random Tuesday night. All the attention was well deserved, but not entirely welcome. Like almost every other woman in a male-dominated industry, Ng would prefer not to be singled out for anything other than her work.
Perhaps now that the Marlins are in the organization’s first full-season playoff series since 2003, we can focus on a lesser-known fact: Ng is a damn good GM.
“This should have happened five or 10 years ago,” Marlins assistant GM Oz Ocampo said of Ng getting the chance to run baseball operations. “She has so much feel for the game, but also respects what she doesn’t know. She is relentless in trying to figure out how to continually improve and get smarter and attract people who can help her along the way.”
Ocampo, hired in November, didn’t want to leave Houston, an organization fresh from the World Series and to which he had returned after spending most of the last decade turning the Astros into a juggernaut transform. And Ocampo wouldn’t have left if he hadn’t known how competitive Ng – with whom he previously worked in the commissioner’s office – and Skip Schumaker, the first-year manager, were.
“We’re all obsessed and crazy,” Ocampo said. “We want to win.”
It’s the off-season in sunny San Diego and Schumaker is meeting Ng for the first time. She has been playing baseball since 1990 and has been passed over for several general manager jobs. Sure, Ng has “her people” like any baseball manager, but she also doesn’t want to just hire a friend or someone she’s known for years. She wants to do it right. So Ng calls around and asks people she trusts who she should consider.
When it comes to Schumaker interviews, there is not immediate consensus that he is the first choice. Ng calls more often with friends in the game, people who know Schumaker. They all tell her the same thing: Schumaker is a winner. An obsessive one. He’s got a good motor, as people in baseball like to say.
She makes the rent.
Later in the winter, Ng brings in Ocampo and begins talking about how Schumaker and Ocampo can speed up the Marlins’ trajectory. People often say they want to get different perspectives when making decisions, but Ng goes out of her way to find as many as possible.
Kim Ng’s first manager was Skip Schumaker. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
“We went from rigid control BS to a point where, ‘We need ideas!'” said one longtime baseball employee. It’s a breath of fresh air.”
Ng said to Schumaker the same thing she said to Ocampo: Not only will they win in Miami, but they will have sustained success. And in her opinion, that starts with a culture of success.
“The respect I have for the way she leads is paramount,” Schumaker said. “Players love them; She knows how to have difficult conversations and it just feels like she’s part of our on-site staff. And by that I mean she lets us do our work. Of course she gives ideas and recommends, but doesn’t question anything. Do you know what this means for a manager and his employees? It’s incredible.”
Marlins general manager Caroline O’Connor, a trailblazer herself, compares Ng to the conductor of an orchestra.
“It encourages people to express their opinions and creates a collaborative environment for the team. “People like to be heard and be a part of these decisions,” O’Connor said. “And you can see that in the decisions that are made. There were all these articles about the trades (that were made at the deadline) and the success of them, and that included everyone from the scouts to (owner) Bruce (Sherman). Kim is really good at navigating up and down and working laterally. She is a very considerate leader.”
It’s the end of July and Ng has an organization-changing decision to make: Will the Marlins give it a try or not?
Miami posted a 53-39 first-half record but then faltered, losing nine of its next 10 games. Sherman gave Ng the OK to go on the payroll. The group assembled includes not only Ng and a few relievers, but also people from the front office, scouting, analytics and the big league staff. Ng leads the discussions as they deliberate and leads the room. Standing still is not an option; You are either in or out.
Five days before the deadline, the Marlins traded two well-considered prospects, Marco Vargas and Ronald Hernández, for Mets closer David Robertson.
“You don’t do that,” Ocampo said, “unless you’re determined to make a push.”
The Marlins have an interest in Lance Lynn before he goes to the Dodgers and goes second to the Cubs for Jeimer Candelario, widely considered the best hitter available. In the early afternoon it is still quiet in Miami. Ng moves on and after having been in talks with the White Sox for some time, he acquires Jake Burger and later Josh Bell from Cleveland to add some pizzazz to the Marlins’ lineup. Then they get Ryan Weathers from San Diego with “seconds to spare,” Ng said, calling it their most stressful trade deadline as a GM, but not in baseball. (Ng says that honor goes to the 2006 deadline deal in which, as the Dodgers’ assistant GM, she helped negotiate the Greg Maddux trade, which required no-trade provisions to get Maddux to waive his no-trade waive the clause and go to Los Angeles.)
“We wanted to do deals that were right for us,” she said of the three steps a few weeks later. “I bet I’ve blown up on Twitter before (I’ve done that) though.”
The Marlins’ scheduling changes quickly breathed life into the team, with Bell and Burger posting two of the best OPS grades in the majors upon arriving in Miami.
“There were a lot of moving parts and a lot of adjustments on the fly,” Ocampo said. “But she was… collected and decisive when needed. And thank God, because not only do these (additional) players have a huge impact on winning on the field, but their presence in the clubhouse cannot be overstated.”
It’s the final homestand and the Marlins are fighting for a wild card spot in the rankings, which change every night. They’re in, then they’re out. It’s stressful and exciting.
It’s also employee recognition month and Ng turns to O’Connor with an idea. What if Marlins staff came to Ng’s box to watch a few innings with her for the final home series in September?
The idea is overwhelmingly popular. Ng’s assistant is responsible for coordinating schedules to ensure everyone interested has the opportunity to sit down with Ng and hear how a GM thinks. (Given Ng’s inquisitive mind, she may have asked more questions than her roommates.)
Although she doesn’t seek the spotlight, Ng knows how important it is for many people to see her as a visible sign of progress. Recently, Ng and O’Connor – baseball’s first all-female leadership team – were honored by the local YWCA. The name of the award was “The First, but Not the Last”.
“They want to pay it forward,” O’Connor said. “You feel so privileged in the role that you don’t want to spoil it for anyone else. So how can you do as much as you can to open those doors and make a positive impact that other people see?”
It’s Saturday night in Pittsburgh and the team has just secured a spot in the playoffs. Sherman took some employees to a restaurant. Half of them are still wearing clothes soaked in champagne, the humidity doesn’t dampen the mood.
Ng, whom Jazz Chisholm Jr. referred to as “Mama Kim” when speaking to reporters in the clubhouse, was part of the on-field celebration. She knows how big the moment is. The whole organization does. In Miami, attendance increased 28 percent this year and 12 percent the year before. The Marlins made the postseason in a COVID-shortened 2020 season, but this is different.
Now the city is bustling and the Marlins are suddenly media darlings playing in prime time in Philadelphia. However, there isn’t much time to enjoy. Reaching 84 wins is nice, but “everyone was talking about what’s next,” O’Connor said. “There is a real opportunity here.”
After losing Game 1 on Tuesday night, the chance now means beating Philadelphia twice in a best-of-three set in which the Marlins are underdogs. Miami is on the verge of elimination. However, there is no added pressure for Ng to advance to the NL Division Series and become the first woman to do so again.
“She puts enough pressure on herself,” Ocampo said. “It is a privilege to play in the postseason and we welcome that more than anything. She doesn’t have time to feel this (additional) pressure. She’s worried about how she can win tonight and tomorrow. That’s all she focuses on.”
(Top photo by Ng: Rob Tringali / MLB Photos via Getty Images)