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History will be made at Truist Park. Jen Pawol, a trailblazing umpire who’s spent nearly a decade working her way up through the Minor Leagues, is set to become the first woman to officiate a regular-season Major League Baseball game. MLB announced Wednesday that Pawol will work both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader between the Braves and Marlins in Atlanta, followed by a plate assignment for Sunday’s series finale.
Pawol, 48, is one of 17 Triple-A umpires eligible to serve as substitutes at the big-league level. She began her professional umpiring career in 2016 after being selected out of MLB’s Umpire Training Academy. Since then, she’s climbed each level of the minors, becoming a Triple-A crew chief and working the 2023 Triple-A National Championship Game. Her gear from her first minor league game resides in Cooperstown.
She’s already broken barriers in the past two spring trainings, becoming the first woman since Ria Cortesio in 2007 to work spring games. Now, she'll step into the regular season spotlight.
MLB History to be made, Jen Pawol gets the call
“I greatly appreciate everyone’s enthusiasm, everyone’s welcoming attitude on the field,” Pawol told the Associated Press after a spring game in 2024. “Tonight was very, very special.”
Pawol’s journey to MLB didn’t start behind the plate. A New Jersey native, she was a standout softball and soccer player in high school, earning a softball scholarship to Hofstra University. She later played on the USA Baseball Women’s National Team in 2001 and spent years officiating NCAA softball, including games in the Big Ten, before making the jump to baseball.
Her inspiration to pursue umpiring came while playing in local leagues after college. “I wasn’t really satisfied,” Pawol said in a past interview. “I remember looking at the umpire and being like, I think that’s it. I got to go for that.”
In addition to her sports career, Pawol holds multiple art degrees and once worked as an eighth-grade art teacher. But officiating became her passion and full-time pursuit — and she’s never looked back.
“I don’t really view umpiring as a gender job,” she said. “I just view it as, if you’re good at it and you like it, you should do it.”
MLB’s decision to promote Pawol continues a trend across pro sports. Violet Palmer broke the NBA’s gender barrier in 1997, Sarah Thomas followed in the NFL in 2015, and soccer’s Stéphanie Frappart became the first woman to officiate a men’s World Cup game in 2022. MLB, however, has taken longer — but Pawol’s debut marks a meaningful step forward.
“She’s earned this moment,” one MLB executive reportedly said. “And baseball is better for it.”
Pawol will umpire bases Saturday before taking on plate duties Sunday, officially entering the record books as MLB’s first female regular-season umpire — a title long overdue.
