Alexandra Irving, an online producer for the San Francisco Chronicle and former softball catcher for more than a decade, was part of baseball history Friday night.
Irving made her debut as an official scorer during the season opener between the Miami Marlins and San Francisco Giants, the fourth woman to score Opening Day across Major League Baseball this season — a first for the league.
“It’s a dream come true for me, honestly,” said the 32-year-old, whose mother, Sandra, attended the game to cheer her daughter’s accomplishment. “I’ve been scoring since I was like 12 or 13, and I used to go to games by myself and score the games. To be able to do it at this level, it’s unreal. I feel so, so lucky to have the opportunity for young girls to look into the press box and see a woman doing stats and think that they can do that, too, I feel honored to be able to give that awareness.”
Kara Blackstone, Jillian Geib and Sarah Johnson were the other three women to score Opening Day games Friday around baseball.
Blackstone handled scoring duties at the San Diego Padres–Arizona Diamondbacks game in Phoenix, Geib the Los Angeles Dodgers– Colorado Rockies affair in Denver, and Johnson the Seattle Mariners matchup with the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report
Source: www.espn.com