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Alyssa Nakken is making baseball history.
The San Francisco Giants assistant coach became the first female coach to make an on-field appearance in an MLB game. Nakken took over for first base coach Antoan Richardson after he was ejected from Tuesday's game against the San Diego Padres.
“I think we’re all inspirations doing everything that we do on a day-to-day basis, and I think, yes, this carries a little bit more weight because of the visibility,” Nakken told reporters after the game. “Obviously there’s a historical nature to it,” she added. “But again, this is my job.”
A standout alum from Sacramento State, Nakken played for the Hornets softball team from 2009 through 2012. In her tenure, Nakken earned All-Pacific Coast Softball Conference honors all four years, and was named the 2012 conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Nakken later joined the Giants’ baseball operations department as an intern in 2014, and was named an assistant coach before the 2020 season, which made her the first woman to serve as an assistant in a full-time capacity in the league.
She had already made major league history after becoming the first full-time female coach.