Giants' Alyssa Nakken coaches first regular-season game as a mom with baby daughter at the ballpark

Sport

Giants' Alyssa Nakken coaches first regular-season game as a mom with baby daughter at the ballpark

2024-04-06 08:28 Last Updated At：08:40

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Alyssa Nakken stole a quick moment to make an important pregame stop ahead of San Francisco's home opener: The assistant coach ducked into the family room not far from the Giants clubhouse to check on her baby daughter and husband.

Already dressed in her cream-colored No. 92 uniform, Nakken gave her girl a tender kiss on the right cheek and carefully placed noise-canceling headphones over her tiny ears, making sure they were exactly right for 11-week-old daughter Austyn, born three weeks early on Jan. 22.

The first full-time female coach in major league history, Nakken isn't yet traveling full-time on manager Bob Melvin's staff. The Nakkens are learning on the fly together how to navigate this challenging, daunting, thrilling and unprecedented new normal that is life of a major-league coaching mom and how that balance might look over the coming months and even years.

Not too long after visiting her baby, there was Nakken with hands in the pockets of her black Giants jacket, standing on the top step of the dugout with a big smile.

“I feel nothing but support from everybody,” she said. “I'm very grateful, definitely count my blessings with that every single day. And so as more women get into coaching and want to have families, I will be there every step of the way to talk through ways that I navigated it and am navigating it. I'm learning something every single day. It's something my husband and I say all the time, let's just take everything day by day. She's in control right now, our daughter, so that's priority No. 1. It's been really fun, it just feels very right.”

It's Robert Nakken who is now taking on much of the load behind the scenes during these early days of parenthood — at least on game days. His wife noted “he's also a trailblazer in this."

“I'm definitely a proud husband and also a new, proud dad,” Robert Nakken said. “It's a beautiful time to experience the journey with Alyssa and our family is very proud and we're excited to support her in this journey that is really the first journey for a coach in this realm. So it's going to be a little different, it's going to be a little hard and that's what makes it great.”

Robert Nakken hopes he and his wife can provide an example for future women to become professional baseball coaches while realizing they can also be parents.

“I think it's something that can happen, we want to happen more and more and hopefully we can lay the groundwork for other women, because we want to have more babies, that's for sure,” Robert Nakken said, Austyn cradled in his arms sporting her own pint-sized Giants jersey. “If someone else that's a female wants to pursue this career that they'll be supported and have outlets, especially when they become a mother.”

Alyssa Nakken received huge applause when introduced during pregame festivities at Oracle Park. The 33-year-old Nakken, a former softball star at Sacramento State, announced last season she was expecting her first child.

Just more than six weeks after giving birth, she and her family made a brief March visit to spring training in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Austyn has received gifts from Nike, too. Robert Nakken posted photos from the stands on a sunny Bay Area day before the series opener against San Diego. It was also against the Padres in April 2022 when Nakken became the first woman to coach on the field in a regular-season game when she took over at first base during a 13-2 win after Antoan Richardson was ejected.

“I got to know her some in the offseason and certainly saw her from the other side. We'll support what she's going through right now. This is much more important than baseball,” Melvin said following the Giants' 3-2 win. “She is a big part of this team, and she's been here longer than I have as a coach, so we'll continue to support what she's having to do. Her and her husband are going through a lot right now, kind of switching roles a little bit but it's really cool to see and she's got a place on this staff always.”

Not to mention the respect of players. Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski returned from paternity leave this week after he and wife Paige welcomed their second child, and he admires how Robert Nakken is embracing his family's child-care needs.

“It's incredible what he's able to do and how confidently he can do it,” Yastrzemski said. “It's not easy to be a new dad and he's making light work of it, doing great. To have your partner be that supportive is probably one of the most important things in the world, so kudos to him for just putting his nose down and being willing to do whatever it takes for her to keep achieving her dreams. It's awesome.”

On Friday, Austyn showed off her darling toothless smile, and there are early signs she might just turn out a redhead — her parents would love that.

“It's definitely uncharted waters, but we navigate this with the support of the coaching staff and the front office but also taking it a day at a time as a family,” Robert Nakken said. “We're just here to support Alyssa and anything and everything that she needs from us. It's just exciting to watch her go. Every day's a challenge but athletes adjust and that's what we're here to do.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

The Latest: Retrial of Karen Read begins in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend

2025-04-22 23:45 Last Updated At：23:51

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — The second murder trial of Karen Read, whose case has sparked a national debate on police accountability and won her legions of devoted fans, began Tuesday with opening statements addressing theories about how her Boston police officer boyfriend ended up dead.

Read is accused of striking John O’Keefe with her SUV in 2022 and leaving him to die alone in the snow outside of a house party in the town of Canton, a suburb about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Boston. She has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene.

During the first trial last year, prosecutors said Read intentionally backed into O’Keefe after she dropped him off at a house party and returned hours later to find him dead. The defense said she was a victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O’Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party.

A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse and deliberating further would be futile. A new prosecutor, Hank Brennan, is heading the state's case for the retrial. Attorney Alan Jackson presented the defense's opening statement.

Here’s the Latest:

As he did during the first trial, Jackson said Read’s taillight was damaged that morning as she clipped another vehicle at O’Keefe’s house, where she was staying, not from hitting O’Keefe after she dropped him off at the party.

He said the defense will introduce a video to show how the taillight was damaged.

“During the course of this trial, the commonwealth is going to desperately claim that Karen Read taillight was actually damaged by hitting John O’Keefe,” he told jurors. “They’ll have no evidence of it mind you. None. But they’ll make the claim.”

Jackson called the case “the very definition of reasonable doubt” and said prosecutors can not meet their burden of proof “when every piece of this case was handled by a disgraced investigator with a motive to protect his friends”

“By the end of this trial, you’ll conclude that Karen Read is not guilty of hitting John O’Keefe with her SUV. There was no collision,” he said. “She’s the victim of a botched and biased and corrupted investigation that was never about the truth, folks. It was about preserving loyalty.”

Jackson said O’Keefe’s injuries do not suggest he was hit by a car at all.

“Not a bruise,” the defense lawyer said.

Jackson told the jury that they will learn O’Keefe had abrasions consistent with being bitten by a dog. He said the injury to O’Keefe’s head was also not consistent with falling backwards onto the ground, as prosecutors alleged.

Jackson said medical evidence will also establish that hypothermia was not a factor, as prosecutors alleged. He said O’Keefe was injured somewhere warm and then moved, and that establishes reasonable doubt.

Jackson described the state’s case as hinging on fired state trooper Michael Proctor, whom he described as a “cancer.”

Proctor was the lead investigator in the Read case. Jackson said Proctor is the key to the state’s case and is also its “Achilles heel.”

Jackson listed a litany of failures in the investigation, including that investigators didn’t search the house, secure the crime scene or properly collect evidence. He then touched on sexist and crude texts about Read’s family and colleagues that surfaced during the first trial and eventually led to Proctor’s firing.

Jackson characterized Read as victimized by a police culture that sought go protect fellow cops.

Read’s defense team used its opening statement to describe her as a victim of a cover-up and to stress that she didn’t kill O’Keefe.

“At the end of the day folks, there was no collision with John O’Keefe,” Jackson said.

The defense attorney said the case will show that O’Keefe wasn’t hit by Read’s car. He acknowledged that O’Keefe’s death was a “tragic loss,” but said the investigation was corrupted by bias and deceit.

“The evidence in this case will establish ... above everything else three points — there was no collision with Jon O’Keefe. There was no collision. There was no collision,” Jackson said. “John O’Keefe did not die from being hit by a vehicle. The facts will show that. The evidence will show that. The data will show that. The science will show that and the experts will tell you that.”

Read and O’Keefe were headed to the end of their relationship before O’Keefe died, Brennan said.

He described how the couple’s relationship was faltering before O’Keefe died. They were arguments a few days before O’Keefe was killed and that O’Keefe had asked Read to leave, he said.

Brennan said text messages will be presented showing the tension between the couple and how Read would become irate when her calls weren’t returned.

“You will read those text messages and you will realize this was the beginning of the end of this relationship,” he told the jurors.

Brennan told the jury that O’Keefe was a “family man” who was a pillar of his community and was much more than just a police officer.

O’Keefe was a single parent of two children whom he adopted when his sister and her husband died within months of each other, Brennan said. Brennan said he cared for the children as if they were his own and provided them stability and love.

O’Keefe’s tumultuous relationship with Read changed all that, Brennan said.

“They led a good life,” Brennan said. “Enter Karen Read.”

Brennan began opening statements by describing the scene where O’Keefe was found dead.

He opened by describing how firefighters and paramedics got a call about a cardiac arrest. They jumped into the ambulance and headed out in near blizzard conditions. Their ambulance was sliding along the road and they couldn’t hear anything beyond the sound of the siren.

Arriving at 34 Fairview Road, they came upon a chaotic scene.

“He stepped out into bedlam,” Brennan said. “He heard a woman screaming.”

They came upon Karen Read, who he said told paramedics, “I hit him, I hit him.”

“It was at that time in the words of the defendant that she admitted what she had done that night, that she hit John O’Keefe,” Brennan said.

The judge addressed the heavy public interest in the trial before opening statements began.

Judge Beverly Cannone told the jury to ignore public comment about the trial while it is going on. She also told jurors it’s important not to conduct independent research or look at news coverage of the trial.

“You will decide what the facts are, where the evidence is contested, you will determine where the truth lies,” she said. “This trial will be decided by you, an independent jury.”

Cannone also told the jury not to use social media during the trial.

The jurors have entered the courtroom and received their instructions for the trial.

After giving them the instructions, the judge asked if they had refrained from discussing the case or doing any independent research about it.

The court also heard the charges against Read.

Judge Beverly Cannone said she received four motions over the weekend that need to be addressed.

She ruled that the defense can’t mention a consulting firm in their openings, which led the defense to request to be heard. They then entered into a sidebar with the defense arguing the firm should be mentioned.

The courtroom is packed, with little room for anyone other than essential court personnel and media.

The trial seats about 10 people on both sides. Read’s family is on one side and the O’Keefe’s are on the other – about 10 on each side.

Read could be seen chatting and smiling with her attorneys Alan Jackson and David Yannetti. Reporters are behind them, sitting on stools.

Barriers are set up on both sides of the street in front of the building. Several state troopers and police officers are also positioned around the courthouse.

Police ordered a truck driver who slowed down to yell “Free Karen Read” to move along, and also chased off someone who was shooting video with their phone.

Read arrived at court just before 8:50 a.m. to some cheers from assembled supporters.

Family members from both sides also arrived just before 9 a.m.

Read smiled briefly as she entered the court. She did not answer a question about whether she was ready for her second trial.

The court had a police presence to try to maintain order as supporters gathered outside.

Supporters of Karen Read have assembled outside court in advance of her new trial.

The scene among supporters is similar to a reunion, with people hugging one another and calling out their names.

Ashlyn Wade, a Read supporter from Canton, where John O’Keefe was killed, said she was there to hopefully see Read cleared of charges.

“I’m here for justice,” she said. “The murderer going to jail and Karen being Exonerated — that would be justice.”

Dennis Sweeney, dressed as the judge in the case and wearing a pink T-shirt emblazoned with the word “assassin.” which was inspired by Read’s defense team, said he returned for the second trial because: “Karen Read is factually innocent and we want her freed.”