The first game of a doubleheader on August 9th between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves revealed someone special at home plate.

And we’re not talking about a player.   

We’re talking about Jen Pawol, the first-ever woman to umpire an MLB game during the regular season. Before moving up to the majors, Pawol was the seventh woman to umpire in the minor leagues. 

Pawol says she has harbored this dream since August 2015, when she was invited to the MLB Umpire Camp put on by the Cincinnati Reds. She had already been umpiring for 10 years before that, including working spring training games—but feels that this opportunity had given her career the push that it needed, leading all the way up to her first-ever big league game.

“I always wanted to umpire—I knew I had the bug, I had it in my DNA,” Pawol said in a press conference following the game. “I realized, ‘Wow, maybe I could be a major leaguer’ [and] I just went for it.”

It’s no secret that women’s sports participation and popularity have exploded during the past few years. But women remain largely absent from officiating roles like umpiring, and are still competing on an unequal playing field within the sporting world at large, particularly when they enter into men’s or male-dominated sports. 

This is particularly apparent in an organization like the MLB. Pawol’s debut can certainly serve as a catalyst to change that, however.

“I’m blown away—really blown away,” Pawol said. The dream actually came true today, and I’m still living in it. I’m just so grateful to my family, [and] to Major League Baseball, who is creating such an amazing work environment.”

Pawol also mentioned that she felt accepted and respected by the other umpires that she’s worked with.

“We just have amazing camaraderie,” Pawol said. “We’re having fun out there. We’re working hard, but we’re having fun. I’m just so thankful.”

“I always wanted to umpire—I knew I had the bug, I had it in my DNA.”

Jen Pawol

This is huge, especially since women are rarely considered to be an umpire or a referee. And for those that do get the opportunity to work as a sports official, it’s not uncommon  for them to step out of the role after a short period of time, due to feelings of unwelcomeness and an overall lack of mutual respect from male colleagues.

Pawol is one of a few women across all major sports leagues to break the sports officiating gender barrier. Others include Violet Palmer in the NBA (1997), Sarah Thomas in the NFL (2015) and Stéphanie Frappart, the first woman to referee a men’s World Cup game (2022).

At the start of the first inning, a questionable first strike call didn’t phase Pawol in the least bit. She had little to no issue adapting and locating the strike zone from there on out. She went on to get several borderline pitch calls correct, and was met with astounding praise from fans and colleagues alike.

“We had a really special moment at the end, right when they were doing the final pitcher check at the top of the ninth, we kind of hugged and stuff, and it really hit me,” Pawol said. “It seemed like quite a few people had started clapping and saying my name and stuff, so that was pretty intense.”

There aren’t a lot of role models out there for young girls and women in the world of sports officiating. But Pawol is changing that narrative, one inning at a time.