Jen Pawol made history as the first woman to umpire a Major League Baseball regular-season game when she worked Saturday’s game between the Miami Marlins and host Atlanta Braves.
Pawol, 48, was the first-base umpire in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader at Truist Park. She is expected to work third base in the second game before calling pitches behind the plate in Sunday’s series finale.
A fifth umpire was needed for the crew because of the doubleheader. Saturday’s first contest serves as a makeup for the originally scheduled contest on April 6 that was postponed.
Pawol has been a minor league umpire since 2016 and previously worked spring training games in 2024 and 2025. She is one of 17 current Triple-A call-up umpires eligible to substitute in MLB games.
Pawol described being “overcome with emotion” when the league called her Thursday to notify her of her MLB debut, according to ESPN.
“It was super emotional to finally be living that phone call that I’d been hoping for and working towards for quite a while, and I just felt super full,” Pawol said. “I feel like a fully charged battery ready to go.”
–Field Level Media
