Ladies & Gents: Story below about the first woman to umpire a major league game - it's happening this weekend, Marlins v. Braves, Aug. 9-10.
The story is from Major League Baseball's daily online news source called the MLB Lineup. It's free if you want to subscribe.
Hope you all like the story. I can see Amber smile now.
Soon, a story about the first woman to play short in a big league game? Could be.
-Mike
Jen Pawol will make history this weekend as the first woman to be an umpire in a regular-season MLB game.
Pawol will ump three games during this weekends Marlins-Braves series in Atlanta, including both ends of Saturdays doubleheader and the series finale on Sunday, when she will be behind home plate. The doubleheader necessitated adding a fifth umpire to the crew, since each home plate umpire skips the other game theyre not working.
Pawol has steadily climbed the umpiring ranks since beginning her pro career in Rookie ball in 2016. She reached Triple-A in 2023, becoming the first female umpire at that level in 34 years. She was the home-plate ump for the Triple-A Championship that September. In 2024, Pawol became the first female umpire in a Spring Training game since Ria Cortesio in 2007. She was a Triple-A crew chief in 24 and worked more Spring Training games in 2025.
"For me, personally, I just love doing the job," Pawol said in 2016. "I'm passionate about it, and it's just part of who I am."
Read more about Pawol's trailblazing path to baseball history here, and watch her enter the record books this weekend on MLB.TV.
