In a call that waited for a decade, Jen Pawol received the news that would change her life. She will make her debut in the Major Leagues this weekend, becoming the first woman to umpire in MLB history.
An Exciting Moment
Pawol, visibly excited, recalled the moment she received the call. “I was overwhelmed with emotion,” she commented. “It’s something I’ve worked and waited for, and I feel full. Like a fully charged battery, ready to start.” The news was communicated to him during a conference call on Wednesday, shared with the director of referee development and the vice president of referee operations.A Long Road
Pawol reflected on his career. It all started in the early 90s at West Milford High School in New Jersey, when a teammate suggested he referee. “I didn’t think twice,” Pawol recalled. “If she did it, so would I.”Her first payment was 15 dollars per game. “I took one field and she another,” she explained. “It was a single umpire system. I had no idea what I was doing, but I put on the equipment and called balls and strikes, so I loved it”.
After graduating in 1995, Pawol was selected three times for the Hofstra softball team. Between 2010 and 2016, she umpired NCAA softball. In 2015, then MLB umpire Ted Barrett invited her to an umpire camp in Binghamton, New York.
“More than any woman I’ve seen, she seemed to be able to handle the rigors of the job physically,” Barrett commented. “But what impressed me was her willingness to learn. She was like a sponge.”
Ted BarrettBarrett invited her to a clinic in Atlanta and to an MLB tryout camp in Cincinnati. He also invited her to dinner with other MLB umpires. “I warned her: ‘Look, this is what you’re going to face. It will take you 10 years in the minor leagues before you can smell a Major League field,'” Barrett recalled. Pawol was one of 38 invitees to the Umpire Training Academy in Vero Beach, Florida, and began his professional career in the Gulf Coast League on June 24, 2016. Over the years, he ascended to the New York/Penn League in 2017, the Midwest League in 2018, the South Atlantic League in 2019, the High-A Midwest League in 2021, the Double-A Eastern League and the Triple-A International and Pacific Coast Leagues in 2023. In 2024 and 2025, he was called up for Major League spring training.“It’s been over 1,200 minor league games, countless hours of video review trying to improve, and beneath all of this has been this passion and love for baseball,” she said. “This started in my days as a player and transformed into an umpire, and I think it has strengthened even more. Umpiring is for me, it’s in my DNA. It’s been a long and hard journey.”
Jen PawolPawol will join Chris Guccione’s team in Atlanta for his Major League debut, where he expects the assistance of about 30 family members and friends. He will umpire the bases during Saturday’s double game and call balls and strikes on Sunday. On Wednesday night, Pawol was on third base when Jacksonville defeated Nashville in the International League. Sounds’ third baseman, Oliver Dunn, congratulated him. “If I make it to the Major Leagues,” he said, “we will have both worked at all levels together.” Pawol thanked her predecessors in minor league umpiring, mentioning several who exchanged calls or texts, including Christine Wren, Pam Postema, and Ria Cortesio. After her promotion to Triple-A, Pawol met with Postema in Las Vegas. “The last thing she said to me when I saw her was ‘Do it!'”, Pawol explained. “So yesterday I sent her a text message and said: ‘I’m doing it!'” Barrett will be watching from Oregon. “The hope is that this inspires,” he said. “Who knows, there will be a young girl watching the game on television and will say: ‘Hey, I’d like to try that'”.
