Jen Pawol to Make History as 1st Woman to Umpire MLB Game for Marlins vs. Braves

MLB is set to break new ground this weekend during a series between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.

The league announced that umpire Jen Pawol will be working the three-game series, making her the first woman in MLB history to umpire regular-season games. She will be working the bases during Saturday's doubleheader before taking the position of home-plate umpire in Sunday's series finale.

Per Brian Murphy of MLB.com, Pawol "has steadily climbed the umpiring ranks since beginning her career in Rookie ball in 2016." She advanced to the Triple-A level in 2023 and became the first woman to umpire its championship game. She made her Spring Training debut in 2024, becoming the first woman to umpire a game before the official start of an MLB season since Ria Cortesio in 2007. She also worked Spring Training games this year.

The Associated Press reported that Pawol was an all-state softball and soccer player at West Milford High School in New Jersey before attending Hofstra on a softball scholarship. She was a three-time all-conference selection and earned a spot on the USA Baseball women's national baseball team in 2001.

While continuing to play softball, Pawol earned her master's degree and was pursuing a teaching certification before she eventually decided to transition to becoming an umpire.

"I wasn't really satisfied," she said last year, per the Associated Press. "Coming off of a huge competitive career, just playing locally, I wasn't getting my fix. And I remember looking at the umpire and being like, I think that's it. I got to go for that."

MLB is one of the last major sports leagues to break the gender barrier for game officials. The NBA did so 28 years ago, and the NFL accomplished the feat 10 years ago. The men's soccer World Cup employed a female referee in 2022.