DALLAS -- As MLB¡¯s Take the Field event came to a conclusion on Sunday morning, one thing stood out for Michael Hill, MLB¡¯s senior vice president of on-field operations and workforce development.

¡°This is just where baseball needs to go,¡± Hill said. ¡°This is my fourth year doing the Take the Field event. Every year, I think it's grown. Every year, it's gotten more popular. I think as we look at the game of baseball and how it has changed, women are a part of every fabric in our game, and for us to have the opportunity to be here and educate that next generation is incredibly important. It¡¯s part of us continuing to grow our wonderful game.¡±

MLB¡¯s seventh annual Take the Field event was held this weekend ahead of the league¡¯s annual Winter Meetings. The event is designed for women to learn about various roles throughout professional baseball, with a focus on providing opportunities for education and networking with league and club personnel.

An event like this wasn¡¯t even available for ??Sara Goodrum, the director of special projects for the Miami Marlins and the former director of player development for the Houston Astros, when she was first starting her career in baseball -- even just under 10 years ago.

¡°When I started my career, if an event like this was available, I would have been ecstatic,¡± Goodrum said. ¡°I look at the list of club officials, even as someone that's coming as a club official, and I get starstruck at some of the names that are willing to spend the time having these very intimate conversations and being available to these young women that are interested in breaking into the game.

¡°It's such a great opportunity for them to potentially meet a future boss, a future mentor and meet potential future coworkers. To me, to have had that at that time would have just been incredible, because there's so many incredible people that work in this industry, and to have that type of access is very special.¡±

• Take the Field continues to grow, spread success stories

Sunday¡¯s event focused -- not surprisingly -- on women in baseball, while also including separate panels on MLB¡¯s replay and timing operations, as well as data operations to emphasize the various jobs within the sport.

Before a series of breakout sessions, the final panel of the Take the Field event featured a group of various women in baseball: Jenny Goldsher (Phillies), Megan Stewart (Brewers) and Raquel Wagner (MLB umpire operations).

Julia Hernandez, MLB¡¯s coordinator of on-field operations who runs the event, said this is her favorite panel every year because it includes women who work in various jobs throughout the game.

¡°It's incredible to see the event grow as an event individually, but also in the scope of the game, right?¡± Hernandez said. ¡°We have alums working in different front offices that now we get to bring back and have them act as facilitators and panelists. It¡¯s inspiring and it¡¯s raising the next generation of alums that are going to take their place in a couple of years. ¡­ Take the Field is my favorite event of the year of anything that I get to do, which I think really is saying something, considering all like the very, very cool things we get to do as employees of baseball, but seeing everyone come back and it really becomes a community.¡±