#Alyssa Nakken is first woman to coach in a Major League Baseball game

It only took 144 years, but baseball finally has its first female coach on the field.

Alyssa Nakken became the first female coach to make it into a Major League Baseball game in an on-field capacity when she coached first base for the San Francisco Giants in the late innings of a 6-3 exhibition win over the Oakland A’s on Monday.

Nakken, a four-time all-conference softball player at Sacramento State, became the first woman to be hired as a full-time coach in major league history when she was brought in by new Giants manager Gabe Kapler to coach outfielders and baserunners as an assistant. Kapler, along with multiple players and coaches, chose to kneel during the national anthem before the game.

The 30-year-old former first baseman joined the Giants in 2014 as an intern in baseball operations.

After the game, Giants outfielder Hunter Pence was quick to give his new coach some praise on Twitter.

The number of female coaches in major sports has grown exponentially in recent years, with seven women having worked as full-time assistants in the NFL, including Katie Sowers, who in February as an assistant offensive coach for the San Francisco 49ers became the first woman to coach in a Super Bowl. Nearly a third of NBA teams have hired women as assistant coaches, and Spurs assistant Becky Hammon is regularly mentioned as a head coaching candidate.

With Nakken as MLB’s first woman to make it on the field, and teams such as the Yankees and Cubs hiring hitting coaches Rachel Balkovec and Rachel Holden, respectively, it’s not likely that she will be the last.