Kim Ng hired by Miami Marlins and becomes MLB's first female general manager

Thirty years into building a well-rounded, traditional-looking baseball resume, Kim Ng made history Friday when she became a most untraditional hire as the Marlins’ new general manager — a move and career marked by significant Yankees and local connections.

Ng — pronounced ‘"Ang," according to the Marlins — is the first female GM in the history of baseball.

The only other woman to hold the GM title in major professional men’s sports was Susan Spencer, daughter of former Eagles owner Leonard Tose, who put her in that role in 1984. She worked mostly on the business/legal side, not in football decision-making.

"I entered Major League Baseball as an intern and, after decades of determination, it is the honor of my career to lead the Miami Marlins as their next general manager," Ng, 51, said in a statement released by the Marlins. "This challenge is one I don’t take lightly. When I got into this business, it seemed unlikely a woman would lead a major league team, but I am dogged in pursuit of my goals."

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a separate statement: "Kim’s appointment makes history . . . and sets a significant example for the millions of women and girls who love baseball and softball. The hard work, leadership, and record of achievement throughout her long career in the National Pastime led to this outcome."

Although Ng was born in Indianapolis, she does have local ties, having spent part of her childhood in Queens. She graduated from Ridgewood High School in New Jersey in 1986.

Long before Marlins owner Bruce Sherman and chief executive officer Derek Jeter decided she was the best person to run their baseball operations, Ng was a trailblazer.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman hired her as assistant GM in 1998. At the time, she was the youngest person — 29 years old — and second woman in baseball with that title.

"She was indispensable to me when I first began my tenure as the GM," Cashman said in a statement released by the Yankees. "Kim was a tireless and dedicated executive back then, and in the ensuing years, she has ceaselessly added to her skill set to maximize her talent.

"She will provide the Marlins with vast experience and institutional knowledge along with a calm demeanor and an amazing ability to connect with others — all of which will serve her well in her new leadership role as head of baseball operations."

Ng got her start in baseball in 1990 as an intern with the White Sox, with whom she stayed until 1996. After leaving the Yankees after the 2001 season, she was an assistant GM with the Dodgers from 2002-11, then joined MLB as a senior vice president. She stayed there until Friday.

Her bridge from the Dodgers to MLB? Another former Yankee: Joe Torre, who thought highly of Ng after they worked together in New York and Los Angeles. When Torre left the Dodgers and joined the league office, he brought Ng with him.

"I asked the Dodgers’ permission, and they weren’t happy," Torre told Newsday in 2018. "But it was an advancement for her. It just made her a little more well-rounded."

Among her responsibilities with MLB was overseeing international operations, including trying to clean up the system in which teams sign amateurs — a corner of the sport rife with corruption.

Ng has been a serial GM candidate for most of this century, beginning in 2005, when the Dodgers considered her for their top job that ended up going to Ned Colletti. In the years since, she regularly has received interviews, including with the Padres, Angels, Giants and Orioles — and Mets in 2018 before they hired Brodie Van Wagenen.

"She’s very well prepared in whatever she does," Torre said at the time. "She’s way over my head when it comes to all the knowledge she has about a lot of aspects about the game.

"She’s very bright. She knows her baseball. And she’s, how do you put it? I don’t want to say sure of herself, but she’s very bright and a very brave woman. She knows baseball and she doesn’t hedge on stuff. She attacks things head on. That’s the best way to put it."

This job, too, had a Yankees connection. Jeter and Gary Denbo — who has wielded major influence since Jeter hired him away from the Yankees three years ago as vice president, player development and scouting — have frequently dipped into their Yankees contacts when filling out their Miami ranks.

In replacing president of baseball operations Michael Hill, Jeter turned to a woman he met more than 20 years ago, when he was a championship-winning shortstop and Denbo worked in the Yankees’ farm system.

"We look forward to Kim bringing a wealth of knowledge and championship-level experience to the Miami Marlins," Jeter, whose Marlins made the playoffs last season for the first time since 2003, said in a statement. "[Ng] will play a major role on our path toward sustained success."