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Amanda Hopkins is a professional baseball
scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...
for the
Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...
organization. She is the second woman to be a full-time baseball scout after Edith Houghton.


Career

Hopkins is the daughter of Ron Hopkins, who served as a baseball scout for the
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...
, Texas Rangers, and
Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...
during her childhood. Hopkins attended games with her father while growing up, which led her to want to be a scout. She started reading
radar gun A radar speed gun, also known as a radar gun, speed gun, or speed trap gun, is a device used to measure the speed of moving objects. It is commonly used by police to check the speed of moving vehicles while conducting Traffic police, traffic enf ...
numbers off to her father when she was 8 years old. Hopkins attended
Central Washington University Central Washington University (CWU) is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington, United States. Founded in 1891, the university consists of four divisions: the President's Division, Business and Financial Affairs, Operations, and Academi ...
, where she majored in psychology and played
softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
. In the offseason, she worked out with the men's baseball team to build her knowledge about baseball. Hopkins interned at the
Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...
's baseball operations department, focusing on amateur scouting, when she was in college. After performing well during a two-week
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
scouting development program in 2015, Hopkins was hired by Mariners Scouting Director Tom McNamera to be an area scout of high school and college players for the
Four Corners Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. Most of the Four Corners regio ...
region of the United States. As the first female scout in more than 50 years, she says she occasionally faces surprise from players she is scouting when they discover she's female. Women traditionally have a harder time breaking into roles like baseball scouting because they play softball, not baseball, in school; almost all scouts are former players. Hopkins' work with her father and her lifelong drive to know about the game of baseball gave her the skills necessary to do her job.


Personal

She graduated from
Mount Rainier High School Mount Rainier High School is a secondary school in Des Moines, Washington, United States; named for Mount Rainier which can be seen quite well from the school on a clear day. Mount Rainier serves approximately 1700 students and has been active s ...
in Seattle in 2011. Her brother, Ross Hopkins, was selected by the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
in the 2007 baseball draft.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Amanda Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Seattle Mariners scouts Women in baseball Central Washington University alumni Women in Seattle