Amanda Hopkins

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Amanda Hopkins is a professional baseball scout for the Seattle Mariners organization. [1] She is the second woman to be a full-time baseball scout, and the first since Edith Houghton in 1951. [2]

Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball team in Seattle, Washington

The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team in 1977 playing their home games in the Kingdome. Since July 1999, the Mariners' home ballpark has been T-Mobile Park, located in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle.

Edith Houghton Professional baseball player and scout

Edith Grace Houghton was an American professional baseball player and scout. A former shortstop in women's baseball whose professional career began when she was ten years old, Houghton became the first female scout in Major League Baseball when she joined the talent-spotting staff of the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League in 1946. She served in that role until 1952, when she returned to active service in the United States Navy. She had joined the WAVES during World War II.

Contents

Career

Hopkins is the daughter of Ron Hopkins, who served as a baseball scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, and Oakland Athletics during her childhood. [1] [3] Hopkins attended games with her father while growing up, which led her to want to be a scout. [2] She started reading radar gun numbers off to her father when she was 8 years old. [4]

Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball team and Major League Baseball franchise in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Pirates play their home games at PNC Park; the team previously played at Forbes Field and Three Rivers Stadium, the latter of which was named after its location near the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers. Founded on October 15, 1881 as Allegheny, the franchise has won five World Series championships. The Pirates are also often referred to as the "Bucs" or the "Buccos".

Texas Rangers (baseball) Baseball team and Major League Baseball franchise in Arlington, Texas, United States

The Texas Rangers are an American professional baseball team based in Arlington, Texas, located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Rangers franchise competes in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1994, the Rangers have played in Globe Life Park in Arlington. In 2020, they will move to the new Globe Life Field. The team's name is borrowed from the famous law enforcement agency of the same name.

Oakland Athletics Baseball team and Major League Baseball franchise in Oakland, California, United States

The Oakland Athletics, often referred to as the A's, are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team plays its home games at the RingCentral Coliseum. They have won nine World Series championships.

Hopkins attended Central Washington University, where she majored in psychology and played softball. [4] In the offseason, she worked out with the men's baseball team to build her knowledge about baseball. [2]

Central Washington University regional, comprehensive public university in Ellensburg, Washington, U.S.

Central Washington University (CWU) is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington. Founded in 1891, the university consists of four divisions: the President' Division, Business and Financial Affairs, Operations, and Academic and Student Life (ASL). Within ASL are four colleges: the College of Arts and Humanities, the College of Business, the College of Education and Professional Studies, and College of the Sciences.

Softball Team ball sport

Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a field that has base lengths of 60 feet, a pitcher's mound that ranges from 35–43 feet away from home plate, and a homerun fence that is 220 feet away from home plate. It was invented in 1887 in Chicago, Illinois, United States as an indoor game. The game moves at a faster pace than traditional baseball. There is less time for the base runner to get to first while the opponent fields the ball; yet, the fielder has less time to field the ball while the opponent is running down to first base. The name "softball" was given to the game in 1932, because the ball use to be soft; however, in modern day usage, the balls are hard.

Hopkins interned at the Mariners' baseball operations department, focusing on amateur scouting, when she was in college. [4] After performing well during a two-week Major League Baseball scouting development program in 2015, Hopkins was hired by Mariners Scouting Director Tom McNamera to be an area scout of high school and college players for the Four Corners region of the United States. [5]

Major League Baseball Professional baseball league

Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. A total of 30 teams play in the National League (NL) and American League (AL), with 15 teams in each league. The NL and AL were formed as separate legal entities in 1876 and 1901, respectively. After cooperating but remaining legally separate entities beginning in 1903, the leagues merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball in 2000. The organization also oversees Minor League Baseball, which comprises 256 teams affiliated with the major league clubs. With the World Baseball Softball Confederation, MLB manages the international World Baseball Classic tournament.

Four Corners region of the United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, northwestern corner of New Mexico, northeastern corner of Arizona and southeastern corner of Utah

The Four Corners is a region of the United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area is named after the quadripoint at the intersection of approximately 37° north latitude with 109° 03' west longitude, where the boundaries of the four states meet, and are marked by the Four Corners Monument. It is the only location in the United States where four states meet. Most of the Four Corners region belongs to semi-autonomous Native American nations, the largest of which is the Navajo Nation, followed by Hopi, Ute, and Zuni tribal reserves and nations. The Four Corners region is part of a larger region known as the Colorado Plateau and is mostly rural, rugged, and arid. In addition to the monument, commonly visited areas within Four Corners include Monument Valley, Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Canyon, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and Canyon de Chelly National Monument. The most populous city in the Four Corners region is Farmington, New Mexico, followed by Durango, Colorado.

As the first female scout in more than 50 years, she says she occasionally faces surprise from players she is scouting when they discover she's female. [4] Women traditionally have a harder time breaking into roles like baseball scouting because they play softball, not baseball, in school; almost all scouts are former players. [2] Hopkins' work with her father and her lifelong drive to know about the game of baseball gave her the skills necessary to do her job. [2]

Personal

She graduated from Mount Rainier High School in Seattle in 2011. [5] Her brother, Ross Hopkins, was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2007 baseball draft. [3]

Mount Rainier High School Public high school in Des Moines, Washington, United States

Mount Rainier High School is a secondary school in Des Moines, Washington, United States; named for Mount Rainier which can be seen quite well from the school on a clear day. Mount Rainier serves approximately 1700 students and has been active since 1957. It was created to handle the overflow from nearby Highline High School, the district's first high school located in Burien, Washington. The original, aging facility was replaced with a new building at the same location; it opened in September 2007.

Cincinnati Reds Baseball team and Major League Baseball franchise in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. They were a charter member of the American Association in 1882 and joined the NL in 1890.

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References

  1. 1 2 Neyer, Rob (2016-03-28). "In the Major Leagues, Female Scouts Are Few. Their Skills Aren't". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-09-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Keyser, Hannah (2016-04-11). "Edith Houghton to Amanda Hopkins, MLB's 70-year gap in female scouts". espnW. Retrieved 2017-09-04.
  3. 1 2 James, Xandria (2015-12-09). "Mariners hire Amanda Hopkins as full-time scout". SI.com. Retrieved 2017-09-04.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Booth, Tim (2017-08-18). "Mariners' Amanda Hopkins is first female baseball scout in more than 50 years". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 2017-09-04.
  5. 1 2 Johns, Greg (2015-12-08). "Amanda Hopkins hired by Mariners as scout". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2017-09-04.
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