In the third inning of Tuesday night's game between the Padres and Giants (SD-SF GameTracker), San Francisco's Alyssa Nakken made MLB history when she stepped in to the fill the role of first-base coach:
History.
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) April 13, 2022
Alyssa Nakken becomes the first woman to coach on the field in an MLB game after Antoan Richardson was ejected.
Eric Hosmer showed his appreciation 🤝 pic.twitter.com/RdGWKjfcnu
Richardson was ejected in the top of the third by first-base umpire Greg Gibson while apparently instructing the defense. As for Nakken, here she is fulfilling some of the usual duties of the first-base coach:
With Antoan Richardson getting ejected, Alyssa Nakken just became the first female coach to make an on-field appearance in a regular season MLB game pic.twitter.com/acFlATpcOi
— Sam Hustis (@SamHustis) April 13, 2022
Taking over as tonight’s first base coach:
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) April 13, 2022
Alyssa Nakken 🧡🤍 pic.twitter.com/YN7vpYnu7q
Nakken, 31, has been a part of the Giants organization since 2014, when she started as an intern in baseball operations. She now serves as a major league assistant coach on manager Gabe Kapler's staff. In the past, she's worked on outfield and base-running instruction, and in January of 2020, she became the first woman to hold a full-time coaching position in MLB.
"I feel it's my job to honor those who have helped me get to where I am," she told MLB.com not long after ascending to that position. "Coaching, I never saw it. This job has kind of been hidden for so long. I'm so excited to be in this role for the challenge and the opportunity to make an impact for this organization that I love. But also, I'm excited that now girls can see there is a job on the field in baseball. It's really cool."
Nakken previously coached first base during a "summer camp" exhibition game in July of 2020, but Tuesday marked the first time a woman has coached on the field in a regular-season game.