Kimberly J. Ng (; born November 17, 1968) is an American executive best known for her work on

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 ...

. She is the former general manager of the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

. She was the first woman to serve as general manager of a team in the Big Four leagues in North America and the first person of full East Asian descent to serve as general manager of an MLB team. She is currently the commissioner of Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball. A graduate of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, Ng played

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

. She then worked her way up in the front office of several Major League Baseball teams and became a vice president of the league. She was named the Marlins' general manager in 2020.

Early life

Ng was born in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, the first of five daughters, to Virginia and Jin Ng. Her father, an American of Cantonese Chinese descent, was a

financial analyst A financial analyst is a professional undertaking financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core feature of the job. and her mother, Thailand-born of Chinese descent, was a banker. She attended elementary school in Fresh Meadows, Queens and junior high in

Glen Cove, New York Glen Cove is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, New York (state), New York, United States. The city's population was 28,3 ...

. Her interest in baseball started when she played

stickball Stickball is a street game similar to baseball, usually formed as a pick-up game played in large cities in the Northeastern United States, especially New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston. The equipment consists of a broom handle and a rubber ...

on the street in Queens and her father taught her about sports. She played tennis and softball at Ridgewood High School in

Ridgewood, New Jersey Ridgewood is a Village (New Jersey), village in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Ridgewood is a suburban commuter town, bedroom community of New York City, located approximately northwest of Midtown M ...

and graduated in 1986. She graduated from the

in 1990, where she 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) ...

for four years and was named

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

infielder, and earned a B.A. in

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

. During her senior year at the University of Chicago, she served as president of the university's Women's Athletic Association.

Career

Ng began her career as an intern with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

after graduating from the University of Chicago and her first project was to conduct research on Rule 5 draftees which took advantage of Ng's love of statistics and analyzing scouting reports. She was hired full time in 1991 and became special projects analyst before being promoted to assistant director of baseball operations under then-GM Ron Schueler in 1995. In 1995 she became the youngest person, and the first woman, to present a salary arbitration case in the major leagues when she worked for the White Sox, regarding the case of

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Alex Fernandez, and won. Prompted by a desire to expand her networks and learn how executives from other clubs conducted business, Ng then worked in the offices of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

in 1997, where she was director of waivers and records, reviewing all transactions. In March 1998, she was recruited by general manager Brian Cashman to work for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

as assistant general manager, becoming the youngest in the major leagues, at age 29, and the second woman ever to hold the position behind only Elaine Weddington Steward, who, in 1990, became the assistant general manager of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. Ng joined the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

as vice president and assistant general manager in 2001. In 2003,

Bill Singer William Robert Singer (born April 24, 1944) is an American former professional baseball pitcher with a 14-year career from 1964 to 1977. He played primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1964–72) and the California Angels (1973–75), spending h ...

was fired from his position as special assistant of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

after making drunken racist remarks against Ng at a hotel bar during general managers' meetings, including asking her "Where are you from?" and speaking in a mock Chinese accent. In 2005, Ng was interviewed for the vacant position of Dodgers general manager. No woman had ever been a GM in any major sport. The Dodgers hired Ned Colletti as their GM, who immediately kept Ng on as his assistant. Between 2005 and 2020, Ng interviewed for the general manager position with at least five teams, including 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 ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

, Anaheim Angels, and

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. On March 8, 2011, Ng announced that she was leaving the Dodgers to take on the position of senior vice president of baseball operations for Major League Baseball, where she would report to former Yankees and Dodgers manager

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre Jr. (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball Senior management, executive and former player, Manager (baseball), manager, and television color commentator. He has served as a special assistant to the Commiss ...

Marlins general manager

On November 13, 2020, Ng was hired as general manager of the

. She became the first woman to become a general manager of a men's team in the history of major North American sports, as well as the first female Asian-American and first East Asian-American general manager in MLB history. Upon being unveiled as the new Marlins' general manager, Ng received congratulatory messages from figures such as

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...

, and

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova (, ; ; born October18, 1956) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, singles for 332 weeks (List of WTA number ...

. On September 30, 2023, with the Marlins' 7–3 win in Pittsburgh, the Marlins clinched their fourth postseason berth, making her the first woman GM in MLB history to lead a playoff team. It was the club's first postseason appearance since 2020, and their first full season postseason appearance since 2003, although Ng's team was immediately eliminated without a playoff win. In October, Ng declined to exercise her option for the 2024 season, reportedly because she learned the team sought to hire a president of baseball operations, which would have left her second in command in her department.

Athletes Unlimited Softball League

In July 2024, Ng joined the Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball as a senior advisor. She was named commissioner of the

Athletes Unlimited Softball League The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) is a women's professional softball league in the United States, founded in 2024 and run by Athletes Unlimited. History On June 4, 2024, Athletes Unlimited announced a new softball league, that w ...

in April 2025.

Awards

In 2014, ''

Bleacher Report ''Bleacher Report'' (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sports and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. ''Bleacher Report'' was acquired by Time Warner's Turner B ...

'' included Ng on its list of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Sports. In 2015, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' ranked Ng #13 on its list of the most influential minorities in sports and #5 on its list of the most powerful women in sports. In 2017, '' Adweek'' named Ng one of the most powerful women in sports. Ng was selected for the inaugural 2021

50 Over 50; made up of entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists and creators who are over the age of 50.

Personal life

Ng is married to Tony Markward, co-owner of Silas Wines in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ng, Kim 1968 births American people of Thai descent 20th-century American sportswomen American sportswomen of Chinese descent Chicago White Sox executives Living people Los Angeles Dodgers executives Major League Baseball central office executives Major League Baseball general managers Miami Marlins executives New York Yankees executives People from Long Island Sportspeople from Queens, New York Sportspeople from Ridgewood, New Jersey Ridgewood High School (New Jersey) alumni Sportspeople from Indianapolis American women sports executives and administrators Chicago Maroons softball players Businesspeople from Indianapolis Women baseball executives Asia Game Changer Award winners 21st-century American sportswomen