{"id":145444,"date":"2025-09-15T10:54:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T10:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/145444\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T10:54:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T10:54:08","slug":"marianne-boak-major-league-baseball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/145444\/","title":{"rendered":"Marianne Boak, Major League Baseball"},"content":{"rendered":"

Major League Baseball\u2019s automated ball-strike system<\/a> couldn\u2019t have been implemented during spring training and the All-Star Game without Marianne Boak.<\/p>\n

Boak, senior vice president of enterprise products and data operations, and her team created a software product called Vendor that ABS operators under data operations use to see the pitch coming in, which is fed to broadcast partners and supplied to scoreboard operators. <\/p>\n

In the years leading into ABS\u2019s implementation at this stage, Boak\u2019s team, under marching orders from baseball operations, was also responsible on the execution side for experimenting with different zone formats and giving tools to players to make comments on the respective zones. <\/p>\n

The ABS challenge system could make its way to MLB regular-season games for 2026. Meanwhile, an automated checked swing system<\/a> could also be on the horizon. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been on quite a journey,\u201d said Boak, who has been with the league for 14 years. \u201cIt\u2019s a truly cross-collaborative effort.\u201d <\/p>\n

Boak\u2019s team also worked on implementing the iPad app players and coaches use in the dugouts during games. It can help players make mechanical adjustments or discover tendencies of the opposition. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proudest of the expansion of growth of my portfolio and my team in recent years,\u201d Boak said. \u201cNot that long ago we were probably more like order-takers. Now, we\u2019re brought in for the ideation phases: Here\u2019s a business challenge and how can you help us. That speaks to our ability to deliver.\u201d <\/p>\n

Boak was with PepsiCo for a decade before joining MLB in 2011. She has no plans to work anywhere else. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping to end my career here,\u201d Boak said. \u201cI just love that I get to show up every day and do a job I love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marianne BoakSenior Vice President, Enterprise Products and Data OperationsMajor League Baseball<\/p>\n

Why she\u2019s a Game Changer:<\/p>\n

Boak and her team led the implementation of MLB\u2019s innovative automated balls and strikes system during this year\u2019s spring training, coordinating with league partner T-Mobile, in addition to launching MiLB Hub, which has streamlined operations for Minor League Baseball\u2019s 120 clubs.<\/p>\n

Born: Syosset, N.Y.<\/p>\n

Education: SUNY Albany, B.S., finance\/management information systems; Pace University, MPA, not-for-profit management; Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management, MBA<\/p>\n

Family: Spouse, Graham; children, Emma (10) and Katie (8)<\/p>\n

New place I want to travel to next: Ireland. My husband is British and while I have been to England many times, I have not been to Ireland. My mom was of Irish descent, and I have a lot of cherished childhood memories regarding her heritage. She would have loved to have seen it herself.<\/p>\n

Attributes I look for when hiring: Curiosity and strong desire to learn.<\/p>\n

Sports business story I\u2019m excited to follow in the next year: MLB and AUSL.<\/p>\n

I have a dream that one day \u2026 : Game Changers is no longer just for women, or this award category is no longer needed since women have achieved fair footing in sports leadership (and I am so grateful to be recognized!).<\/p>\n

Return to main page and full list of Game Changers 2025 honorees<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Major League Baseball\u2019s automated ball-strike system couldn\u2019t have been implemented during spring training and the All-Star Game without…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[3307,49,48,77783,28459,462,39932,82],"class_list":["post-145444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-baseball","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-game-changers","tag-in-depth","tag-mlb","tag-print","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}