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Aubrey Huff, who won multiple World Series championships with the San Francisco Giants, doubled down on his criticism of the organization for interviewing Alyssa Nakken for the open managerial role.
Nakken was among those interviewed for Gabe Kapler’s old job. She is believed to be the first woman to interview for a managerial job in the major leagues. Huff wrote on X, formerly Twitter, earlier this week that the Giants have become "embarrassing" as an organization and praised Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy for "bringing an old school" mentality to the American League Championship Series.
The former infielder expanded on his criticism in an interview on "OutKick The Morning w/Charly Arnolt."
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Aubrey Huff, right, criticized the San Francisco Giants for bringing in Alyssa Nakken to interview for the open managerial position. (Getty Images)
"I 100% believe in what I tweeted there. I think analytics and the woke, progressive nerds in the front offices of today’s baseball organizations — the only way they can get into baseball is if they figure out a way to invent these ridiculous stats that mean nothing to score woke political points, especially in San Francisco, and to be a part of the game they could never play," Huff said.
"And, when you have guys like Dusty Baker, Bruce Bochy, you even hear Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter talking about it pregame how there’s no iPads in the dugout, it’s old school, gut-feeling managing, I totally agree. I never thought I would agree with A-Rod in my life, but I did there."
Huff worries about the potential negative consequences there could be if a woman was in a major league clubhouse. Nakken, herself, has been an assistant coach in San Francisco for the last three seasons.
"To me, I believe a woman… if she’s got dreams and goals, go for it, fine. But in my opinion, there’s nothing but bad things could happen as a woman in a Major League Baseball clubhouse with a bunch of men," Huff said. "Men aren’t hardwired to take orders from a woman. We’re just not.
"Especially when a woman has never played Major League Baseball with 97 miles per hour coming in at ‘em. How is she gonna gain respect? What about the ’believe all women #MeToo movement'? God forbid she slaps some guy's a-- by accident — who knows? All kinds of things could go wrong. Nothing good could happen."
Giants assistant coach Alyssa Nakken speaks to a reporter at Oracle Park in San Francisco on July 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Josie Lepe, File)
Huff added that he didn’t think Nakken was more qualified than some of the other potential candidates out there.
"The only reason she’s being looked at is… she won’t get hired.… It’s to check a box, political points. I don’t think she’ll get the job, but it’s just like, ‘Look, we’re woke, we’re San Francisco, we gave her a look,’" he said.
Nakken, 33, was a softball star at Sacramento State from 2009 to 2012 and was hired by Kapler in 2020 as an assistant. She was a three-time all-conference selection and a four-time Academic All American.
Nakken earned her master’s in sports management from the University of San Francisco after interning for the Giants’ baseball operations department in 2014.
The odds of her landing the gig are unclear, as there’s stiff competition for the job.
Third-base coach Mark Hallberg and bench coach Kai Correa are among the internal candidates for the position. MLB.com reported that special assistant to baseball operations Ron Wotus is expected to be in the running, as well.
The Giants dismissed Kapler after a disappointing season. The team was 107-55 in 2021 as baseball went from a pandemic-impacted season back to a 162-game slate. The team lost in the National League Division Series. Then, in 2022, the Giants went 81-81 and missed the playoffs.
Alyssa Nakken of the Giants looks on from the dugout prior to the Los Angeles Dodgers game at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2023. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
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San Francisco was 79-83 this season and again missed the playoffs. The Giants appear to be far from the days of winning three World Series in five years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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