This past weekend’s series between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves saw MLB history made as Jen Pawol becomes the first woman to serve as an umpire in a regular season game.
Pawol is one of 17 current Triple-A umpires eligible to serve as a substitute in Major League games.
Pawol umpired three of five games during the series at Truist Park, specifically the entire doubleheader on Saturday, and she was behind the plate to call balls and strikes on Sunday.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts applauded Pawol for her accomplishment and pointed out this is the second time in recent memory that the Marlins have been involved in a historic moment for MLB.
“That’s great. I didn’t know that. Congratulations to her. I mean, baseball has done a great job of being completely inclusive,” Roberts said.
“And so, yeah, that’s Kim Ng over there before, and now in the Marlins again. So good for her. That’s great, I’ll be watching and it’s good for the game. It’s fantastic for the game.”
What Roberts was alluding to was the Marlins hiring Kim Ng as their general manager in 2020. That made Ng, a former Dodgers executive, the first female general manager not only in MLB history, but the first in the four major North American sports leagues.
Ng was also the first female Asian-American and first East Asian-American general manager in MLB history.
Pawol had prior experience umpiring in the college softball ranks before beginning her journey with MLB. It began in 2016, when she attended the Minor League Baseball Umpire Training Academy. Her professional career in baseball officially began the next season in the Gulf Coast League.
She steadily rose through the ranks of the Minor League system, calling games in Spring Training, Single-A, High-A and Double-A. Including Pawol, there have only been seven female umpires to ever call a game in the Minors.
Powal became the first woman in 34 years to umpire in Triple-A during the 2023 season, as she called both Pacific Coast and International League games.
Jen Pawol’s history as an athlete
Pawol attended Hofstra University on a softball scholarship as a catcher. She spent 10 seasons playing at the Amateur Softball Association Major Fast Pitch level after graduation.
After she decided her time playing competitively was over, she decided to pivot into being a professional umpire.
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