Alyssa Nakken
Alyssa Nakken is an American professional baseball coach for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. She is the first female coach in MLB history and the first to coach on the field during a major league game.Career
Nakken is from Woodland, California, and graduated from Woodland High School in 2008. In high school, Nakken played softball, basketball, and volleyball. She attended California State University, Sacramento, where she played college softball for the Sacramento State Hornets as a first baseman. She had a.304 batting average and was named to the All-Pacific Coast Softball Conference all four years, from 2009 through 2012. She was also a three-time all conference selection, and the 2012 conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Nakken graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology.
Nakken joined the Giants' baseball operations department as an intern in 2014. She worked for the team on health and wellness programs. In 2015, she earned a master's degree in sports management from the University of San Francisco, where she also worked as the chief information officer for the baseball team. The Giants promoted her to the major league coaching staff as an assistant coach in January 2020, making her the first full-time female coach in MLB history. Though she will wear a baseball uniform, she will not be in the dugout during games, as there is a seven coach maximum, and those seven were hired prior to her.
On July 20, 2020, Nakken became the first woman to coach on the field in a major league baseball game, during exhibition play. Nakken was first base coach for the Giants' game against the Oakland A's. The Giants won 6–2. Her jersey from the game was sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
