Jen Pawol Becomes MLB’s 1st Female Spring Training Umpire Since 2007

Paul KasabianFeatured Columnist IIFebruary 25, 2024

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Jen Pawol became the first woman in 17 years to serve as an umpire for an MLB spring training game when she took the field for the Houston Astros at Washington Nationals game on Saturday.

MLB @MLBJen Pawol is an umpire in tonight’s Astros-Nationals game. She began the game as the third base ump.

She’s the first woman to work an MLB #SpringTraining game in 17 years. pic.twitter.com/qgmt4aQU8L

Pawol started as the third base umpire in the Astros’ 7-4 win. She then worked second base for three innings before moving to first for the final three frames.

The 47-year-old Pawol was raised in New Jersey and went to Hofstra University, where she played catcher on the softball team.

Pawol worked as an art teacher before going to professional umpiring school. Her umpiring resume is as follows, per the Associated Press:

“Pawol started in the Gulf Coast League in 2016, moved up to the New York/Penn League in 2017, then was promoted to the Midwest League after the first two weeks of the 2018 season. She worked 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 last year.”

As for what’s ahead, David M. Zimmer of NorthJersey.com provided an idea:

“This year, she is expected to return to Triple-A as a crew chief, but the situation remains fluid. Major League Baseball has more than six dozen full-time umpires but it occasionally drafts replacement umpires from the minor leagues.

“This year, Pawol is on the call-up list, the Associated Press and others reported.”

Per the AP, “21 of the 26 umps assigned full spring training schedules were picked for the in-season call-up list.” So it’s certainly possible that Pawol ends the 2024 season as the first woman to ever work as an umpire in an MLB game.