Baseball is a sport mostly organized and performed by men. But the Rochester Red Wings have had a female as the face of the team for more than a decade.

Silver, the Red Wings’ president, CEO and COO, has become known for building the baseball community for more than a decade. She inherited the team after her father, Morrie Silver, passed away. She started with work in the office, then became a team board member, and then onto the leadership role she's held for more than 15 years.

What You Need To Know

  • Naomi Silver inherited the Rochester Red Wings after her father, Morrie Silver, passed away

  • She's been the president, CEO and COO of the team for 15 years

  • Silver says when she walks into a meeting of Minor League Baseball owners, there will be 120 people in the room and only one woman

"People look to me as someone who had invested in the ball club,” Silver said.

Fans are used to her frequent friendliness around the ballpark because she's on a first-name basis with many of the games' spectators, always offering picture opportunities with the community, and credits much of the stadium's success to her team.

Silver is a leader in the baseball community, and one of the few who's a woman.

"When I go into a meeting of minor league baseball owners, there will be 120 of them in the room and one woman,” Silver explained.

Having grown up in the business, she says she's fortunate the baseball community has been a welcoming one for her, but she understands it can seem like a man's world.

"It can be intimidating," she said. "Hopefully the men that you're dealing with are not closed-minded to the idea that there is a woman in there, what they might be considering, their territory. You know, you get through it and hopefully with a little bit of grace."

Throughout her years of experience, she's grown into her role and truly become an essential member of the baseball community as a woman, but also as an equal contributor in the business.

"You never know unless you're listening,” Silver said. “You never know what others around the table can offer."

She says this is her method to success, and advice for every professional, regardless of their gender. Her strategy is helping to give every woman a voice around the stadium, and around the community.

"Half of our fans are women," Silver said. "So to not have a woman's perspective is really ignoring the fact that women come to the games and they make a lot of decisions for the families."