Jen Pawol, a minor-league umpire since 2016, is set to make her major-league debut on Saturday, making her the first female umpire in regular-season MLB history.
Pawol is being called up for the Miami Marlins-Atlanta Braves doubleheader on Saturday, when she will work the bases for those two games. She is slated to be behind the plate for Sunday’s series finale.
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Pawol, a graduate of Hofstra University, called MLB spring training games in 2024, becoming the first female umpire to call MLB spring games since 2007. She has been umpiring in the Triple-A International League since 2023 and was the first woman to umpire the International League championship game.
A native of New Jersey, Pawol, 48, was a three-time Colonial Athletic Association All-Conference softball player while at Hofstra. She began her umpiring career in Rookie ball in 2016 and has steadily climbed the minor-league ranks since then.
MLB rules require a fifth member to be added to an umpiring crew when there is a doubleheader, as is the case for the Marlins and Braves on Saturday, because each home-plate umpire skips the game they aren’t calling.
The NBA had its first female referee debut 28 years ago, while the NFL has had female referees for the past 10 years.
(Photo of Pawol from a spring game in 2024: Rich Storry / Getty Images)








