MLB is calling up its first female umpire, promoting Jen Pawol for Saturday’s Marlins-Braves game

By Canadian Press on August 6, 2025.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jen Pawol is set to become the first woman to umpire a game in Major League Baseball when she works games this weekend between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.

Pawol will work the bases in Saturday’s doubleheader at Truist Park and the plate on Sunday, MLB said Wednesday.

Pawol, a 48-year-old from New Jersey, worked spring training games in 2024 and this year.

MLB’s move comes 28 years after the gender barrier for game officials was broken in the NBA, 10 years after it ended the NFL and three years after the men’s soccer World Cup employed a female referee.

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Walker is a retired AP Baseball Writer.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Ben Walker And Ronald Blum, The Associated Press