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3w ago

Jen Pawol to Become First Woman Umpire in MLB Regular-Season Games

She will cap a decade-long rise through college and minor league umpiring by working bases in Saturday’s doubleheader before calling balls and strikes from behind the plate on Sunday at Truist Park.

Umpire Jen Pawol takes her position during the first inning of a 2024 spring training game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals.
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8/6/25
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Overview

  • Major League Baseball announced that Pawol will serve as a base umpire for both games of Saturday’s Miami Marlins–Atlanta Braves doubleheader and as home-plate umpire in Sunday’s series finale.
  • Pawol began officiating NCAA softball in 2010 and entered professional baseball umpiring in the Gulf Coast League in 2016, advancing through each minor league level to reach Triple-A in 2023.
  • In 2023 she became the first woman to umpire a Triple-A championship game and in 2024 she broke spring training barriers as the first female umpire since 2007.
  • Commissioner Rob Manfred lauded her “hard work, dedication and love of the game” and praised her as an inspiration for women and girls aspiring to on-field roles.
  • Her regular-season call-up follows similar milestones in the NBA, NFL and FIFA World Cup and reflects MLB’s broader push to diversify its umpiring ranks.