Jen Pawol

Jennifer Pawol

• Height 5' 4", Weight 147 lb.
• School Hofstra University, Pratt Institute, Hunter College
• High School West Milford High School

• Born December 29, 1976 in West Milford, NJ USA

BR Umpire page

Biographical Information

Jen Pawol became the first female umpire in Major League baseball history, as she was called up to serve as the fifth umpire for a doubleheader between the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins at Truist Park in Atlanta, GA on August 9, 2025, and then to be the home plate umpire in a game between the same two teams the next day.

Pawol's promotion to the majors was not a surprise, as she had dutifully climbed all of the steps expected of a professional umpire, starting with attending the Minor League Umpire Training Academy in Vero Beach, FL in 2016 at the instigation of major league umpire Ted Barrett. She had been a part-time softball umpire for the previous 11 years, including at the college level, in addition to her day job as an art teacher. She had a lifelong love of the game, but given limited opportunities for women to play baseball at a high level, she played softball as a catcher during her undergraduate studies at Hofstra University, although She did play for the USA women's national baseball team in the 2001 Women's Baseball World Series (the predecessor to the Women's Baseball World Cup). She later earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Pratt Institute, and a master of Fine Arts from Hunter College.

Her first professional assignment was in the Gulf Coast League in 2017; at the time she was just the seventh female umpire in minor league history. In 2023, she worked in both AAA leagues, the International League and the Pacific Coast League, and was named the home plate umpire for the Triple-A Baseball National Championship played in Las Vegas, NV. She was the first female umpire to reach that level in 34 years. She umpired her first major league spring training games in 2024 while serving as a crew chief in AAA and was added to the call-up list in March. While she did not get the chance to work any regular season MLB games that year, she returned to work spring training games in 2025, and the call to the Show came on August 6th. While the last umpire to work in AAA, Pam Postema, had faced overt hostility from many quarters, times had thankfully changed by the time her call-up was announced. It was greeted with enthusiasm as something Pawol had fully earned. For example, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, one of the most highly respected figures in the game, stated: "Baseball’s done a great job of being completely inclusive. I'll be watching. It’s good for the game." A number of players who had seen her work in spring training also expressed their support for the move. In total, she worked 18 games that first season.

Further Reading

• Kelsie Heneghan and Thomas Harrigan: "Female ump to work HP for Triple-A championship: Pawol the first woman to umpire at Minors' highest level in 34 years", milb.com, September 29, 2023. [1]
• Julia Kreuz: "Pawol to be first woman to umpire MLB Spring Training games since 2007", mlb.com, February 12, 2024. [2]
• Justin Morris: "'Dream actually came true': Pawol breaks barrier in 1st MLB game", mlb.com, August 10, 2025. [3]
• Elizabeth Muratore: "Set to become 1st female MLB umpire, Pawol represents beacon of hope and progress", mlb.com, August 7, 2025. [4]
• Brian Murphy: "Pawol to make history as MLB's first female umpire", mlb.com, August 6, 2025. [5]
• Manny Randhawa: "Trailblazing ump Pawol ready to make more history Sunday -- this time behind the plate", mlb.com, August 10, 2025. [6]
• Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru: "Trailblazing umpire Pawol debuts behind plate: 'Big day for her, big day for MLB'", mlb.com, August 10, 2025. [7]
• Ben Walker and Ronald Blum (The Associated Press): "MLB is calling up its first female umpire, promoting Jen Pawol for Saturday's Marlins-Braves game", Yahoo! Sports, August 6, 2025. [8]

Related Sites

• Jen Pawol at Retrosheet.org