MLB will call up its first female umpire over the weekend, with Jen Pawol scheduled to work both games of a doubleheader Saturday between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.
Pawol, a 48-year-old West Milford, N.J., native, will also umpire Sunday’s game behind home plate calling balls and strikes.
In the past two years, Pawol has worked spring training games before the season. She was the first woman to umpire those games since Ria Cortesio in 2007, though Cortesio was never called up to the majors.
MLB calls up additional umpires from the AAA level for series that involve doubleheaders. Umpires who work behind the plate for one game of a doubleheader get the other game off.
Pawol was an all-state softball player in New Jersey and played collegiately at Hofstra University, where she was a three-time all-conference selection. She was part of the 2001 USA Baseball women’s national team but playing part-time left her wanting more.
“I wasn’t really satisfied,” she said in 2024. “Coming off of a huge competitive career, just playing locally, I wasn’t getting my fix. And I remember looking at the umpire and being like, I think that’s it. I got to go for that.”
The NBA hired its first female referee, Violet Palmer, in 1997, and the NFL promoted its first female on-field official, Sarah Thomas, in 2015. The NHL has still never had a female official.
MLB’s full-time umpiring crew is notoriously tough to break into. Umpires are functionally never fired for poor performance, though standout ump Pat Hoberg was canned earlier this year in a gambling scandal. Full-time openings usually only occur when umpires retire.
With News Wire Services
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