In 2016, 106 women worked in baseball operations roles, with nine in on-field positions and 12 in director positions or above, according to Major League Baseball. In 2020, the number of women in baseball operations roles increased to 225, with 17 women in director’s roles or above. From 2016 to 2020, the number of jobs in baseball operations increased from 4,442 to 4,951, with 23.8% of new jobs going to women.

“Kim’s hiring is progress,” said a female National League baseball operations staffer, “but there’s a lot of work to be done.”

Buoyed by Ng, MLB scored a C for gender hiring in the 2021 Racial and Gender Report Card from the University of Central Florida, a grade that seems palatable only when compared with what the league received in 2020: an F.

MLB has worked to diversify in many ways, but even with Ng’s hiring, success has been limited when it comes to women. Women continue to report incidents that range from harassment to getting kicked out of rooms they belong in and an inability to find basic resources, including restrooms. MLB is noticing, and the league says it’s working to fix these issues, bringing Michele Meyer-Shipp in as its first chief people and culture officer last August as part of a larger effort to be more inclusive. But women in the game remain discouraged.

his weekend, Sarah Thomas will become the first female official to work a Super Bowl, five years after she became the first female official in the NFL. Seven women have refereed in the NBA this season, and just recently, Natalie Sago and Jenna Schroeder worked together in the first regular season basketball game with multiple female officiants. Around MLB, women have ascended to new heights in baseball operations this offseason as well.

In 2021 it’s a little bittersweet or ironic or oversimplified to be celebrating firsts for women like that. The exceptions to systemic sexism within sports — and indeed, the perpetuation of a hierarchy with men’s sports unequivocally at the top — is a retro form of progress. But it’s progress nonetheless. And in officiating, which has roles with the potential to offer a relatively even playing field for anyone interested in the game, the total absence of women is stark.

“How come there’s not more women?” Pawol asks rhetorically. “Like, it’s this long, obscure process that’s hard to get information on.”