36
away—mother and father and their
only child—wherever he wanted to
go. So he dragged them both into his
car and took off.
At some point Levon pulled over.
Lisa’s jaw was broken in two places;
she would eat through a straw for the
next three months. Through clenched
teeth, though, she was able to tell Josh
to run, and they threw themselves
in front of an oncoming vehicle, the
driver delivering them to a nearby gasStill, he acknowledges this was the
start of a lifelong struggle to be un-
derstood. All the negative traits people
have ever seen in him seem symptoms
of the same disease. He grew up with
few close friends, unsure how to relate
to people. He kept everyone at arm’s
length, where they couldn’t hurt him.
In sports, though, he could express
himself. He played baseball and bas-
ketball and football, and he infuriated
teammates and opponents alike withstation. They called the police, and
authorities caught up with Levon four
months later. Only then, after he was
sentenced to 12^1 / 2 years in prison for
sexual battery and aggravated bat-
tery, plus 11 more for separate drug
charges, could mother and son begin
to feel safe. (Levon, asked for com-
ment, expressed no remorse but said,
“I love my son with all my heart.”)
Josh has steadfastly refused to hold
what he calls a “victim mind-set.”THE SOUNDS of
spring training drift
across the back
Ó\c[jf]\m\ipdXafi
league camp: the
crack of the bat, the
thwack of the glove,
the blare of the lat-
est Top 40 hit. But
in Scottsdale, Ariz.,
where the Giants
play, they are joined
by another one: a
cheer every time
one of the 12 new
coaches comes
into view.
Alyssa Nakken, 29,
Y\ZXd\k_\Óijk
female coach in MLB
history in January
when new manager
Gabe Kapler hired
her to his staff.
She had joined
the Giants as a
baseball operations
intern in 2014 and
spent the last few
years working
on community
projects. Kapler was
struck by Nakken’s
enthusiasm and
understanding
of players, so hebrought her aboard
to throw batting
practice and run
flkÓ\c[[i`ccjXjXe
assistant coach.
Her exact duties
will evolve as the
season progresses.
She joins Rachel
Balkovec, 32, whom
the Yankees hired
in November as a
roving minor league
hitting coach, as
k_\Óijknfd\e`e
uniform for MLB
organizations.
Both downplay
their successes
and have largely
declined interviews
(including Nakken
for this story), but
the players, coaches
and team personnel
around them
recognize what it
means for women to
Y\fek_\Ó\c[%
“It’s honestly
an honor [to work
with Nakken],” says
>`Xekji`^_kÓ\c[\i
Hunter Pence.
“She’s a living hero
right now. She’sJOHN (^) W
. (^) M
CD
ON
OU
GH
JOSH DONALDSON
20 FOR THE ’20S
BECAUSE...
THE COACHING
RANKS ARE
OPENING UP
TO WOMEN
15