For the first time in nearly 150 years of Major League Baseball, a female umpire will work a regular season game. Jen Pawol, a 48-year-old former college softball player from New Jersey, will call outs on the bases for two games of a doubleheader Saturday between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves. On Sunday, she will stand behind home plate and call balls and strikes.
She isn’t shying away from the moment.
“I really am aware of it. I’m aware of the gravity. I’m aware of the magnitude,” Pawol said. “I believe I’m going to be a really good steward and representative for young girls and women — and boys and men — that this is possible.”
While celebration is only natural, it is worth pointing out that MLB only narrowly avoided having robots call balls and strikes before a woman. The NBA