The brand-new women’s pro baseball team assigned to represent San Francisco will have an all-time Giants great as their manager.
Former third baseman and recent Giants coach Matt Williams will be announced as the Firebells’ manager next week, the Chronicle has learned, and Williams confirmed the news when contacted by the paper.
“It’s going to be a ton of fun,” Williams said.
Williams, a five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, managed the Washington Nationals in 2014-15 and was the NL Manager of the Year in his first season there. He also spent two years managing the KBO’s Kia Tigers in South Korea. He will have one player, shortstop Jua Park, from South Korea on his squad, along with players from Japan, Mexico and Canada and the United States.
The Firebells had the No. 1 pick in the inaugural draft for the Women’s Pro Baseball League, and selected former Oakland Ballers pitcher Kelsie Whitmore, who is currently playing with the Savannah Bananas and the US national team.
“I think we’ll have a good team,” Williams said.
Williams is also the quintessential girl-dad, with three daughters who are all about the same age as his players, so he knows the generation well.
The new women’s league consists of four teams in its inaugural 30-game season, which will be played in Springfield, Ill. The other three teams in the league represent Los Angeles, New York and Boston. All four will hold a brief spring training over the final week of July before their regular season begins.
The league, co-founded by former A’s coach Justine Siegal, has said that it hopes to hold exhibition games in the teams’ cities later this year, with plans to play full-time in their assigned cities at some point.