Alyssa Nakken made major league history as the first woman to field coach in a regular-season game when she took her seat for the San Francisco Giants against San Diego on Tuesday night.
Nakken came in in the third inning to coach first base for the Giants after Antoan Richardson was ejected.
When she was announced as Richardson’s replacement, Nakken received a hearty ovation from the crowd at Oracle Park and a hearty handshake from Padre’s first baseman Eric Hosmer.
Nakken, 31, jogged onto the field four days after Rachel Balkovec became the first woman to manage a minor league affiliate of a major league baseball team. She led the New York Yankees’ Class A Tampa Club to a win in their first game.
Nakken had previously coached the position in spring training and during part of a July 2020 exhibition game in Oakland against current Padres manager Bob Melvin when he was the track’s skipper. She first started again a night later against the A’s in San Francisco as teams prepared for the pandemic-delayed season.
“You’re proud to be out there,” Nakken said at the time. “Personally for me it’s the best place to watch a game, that’s for sure.”
The former Sacramento State softball star, whose blonde braid was hanging from her orange hard hat on Tuesday, became the first female coach in the major leagues when she was hired to work on Giants manager Gabe Kapler’s staff in January 2020. She immediately impressed everyone in the front office with her initiative and has worked extensively on baserunning and outfield defense.
At Sacramento State, Nakken was a three-time All-Conference player at first base and four-time Academic All American from 2009-2012. She earned a master’s degree in sports management from the University of San Francisco in 2015 after an internship at the Giants’ baseball operations department a year prior.
“It’s a big deal,” she said. “I feel very responsible and see it as my duty to honor those who have helped me get to where I am.”