Who is Jen Pawol? Everything you need to know about first female umpire set to make history in MLB

MLB will witness history when Jen Pawol will work the bases during the Atlanta Braves' series opener against the Miami Marlins on Saturday. Pawol will become the first woman to umpire an MLB game.

Pawol, a West Milford, New Jersey native, played softball and soccer in high school before representing Hofstra Pride softball as a catcher. She was part of the United States women's national baseball team for the Women's Baseball World Series in 2001.

After her playing career ended, Pawol started umpiring part-time in amateur softball leagues. However, 2016 proved to be a turning point for Pawol as she switched to full-time umpiring, attending the Minor League Baseball Umpire Training Academy.

After climbing the ranks to reach Triple-A in 2023, the first female to do so in 34 years, Jen Pawol featured in a Spring Training game in 2024, the first woman umpire since Ria Cortesio in 2007. She also worked the bases in Spring Training earlier this year.

The 48-year-old will work the bases in Saturday's doubleheader and will be behind home plate for the Braves-Marlins series finale on Sunday.

“Anybody in baseball will tell you that you’ve just got to keep it simple, keep working hard, put your all into it and get ready for the next day,” Pawol said in 2024. “That’s all I think about every day -- get better before tomorrow.”

MLB welcomes Jen Pawol to the big leagues

While most of the MLB fans will be catching a first glimpse of Jen Pawol at the weekend, Philadelphia Phillies star Trea Turner is no stranger to seeing Pawol behind the plate.

"We had seen her in spring training a lot,” Turner said. “I don’t know much about her or statistics or anything like that, but if she’s doing a great job, I love seeing the opportunity for her, and I’m happy for her. I talked to her a little bit in spring training and she seems like a great person and I wish her all the best.”

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will be keeping an eye out for the 48-year-old's historic debut.

"Baseball’s done a great job of being completely inclusive,” Roberts said. “I’ll be watching. It’s good for the game.”

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred extended his congratulations to Jen Pawol and hopes her historic achievement inspires the next generation.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash