So close, but not this time

While watching the Knicks-Lakers game on Wednesday night, ESPN's crawl mentioned that the Los Angeles Dodgers hired Ned Colletti to be their new General Manager. I shrugged my shoulders. Mostly because I'd never heard of the guy. And he wasn't a big name, like Theo Epstein. I figured I'd never give this story a second thought, unless Colletti made a big - or terrible - trade or free-agent signing.

Then I read Lee Jenkins' piece in yesterday's New York Times. The Dodgers' GM search was close to being a very interesting story.

See, the Dodgers - the team of Jackie Robinson, the team historically known for breaking barriers - almost hired baseball's first Asian-American General Manager. Hang on, there's more. If the Dodgers would've promoted Kim Ng, the team's assistant GM, they would've hired baseball's first female GM, as well.

As it is, she lost out to Colletti. She finished second in the job search. But as Ng points out, it was "groundbreaking that a woman even interviewed."

Makes you wonder, doesn't it? I'm not sure if Ng would be hired by another organization. Jenkins' article points out that she's dealt with some unfortunate sexism and racism during her time in baseball. But she's a name to keep an eye on. This is a story to keep an eye on.