It was a historic moment for Major League Baseball and pioneer ump Jen Pawol. The first female to umpire in a big league game made her debut Saturday, working a doubleheader between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves at Truist Park.
How did Pawol realize her dream?
Pawol worked first base during the first game Saturday and third base during game two of the doubleheader. In today’s era of statcast pitch monitors and online scrutiny, the most impactful report card may have come from Marlins starting pitcher Cal Quantrill.
“I’m sure she was well-prepared, and I think part of the game moving forward is if this is normal, then we’re gonna treat it normal, too,” Quantrill told MLB.com. “I thought it was fine, and I think she did a quality job.”
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Pawol had several family members in the crowd and heard from a number of fans before the first pitch. She said she was anxious after the news of her debut broke Wednesday, and overcome with emotion when it hit her that she had realized her dream while walking the field with her crew before the game.
“This morning I’m like, we just got to get out there now,” Pawol said. “We got to do this and make some calls, because just all the emotion and stuff, talking about it the past few days since the news broke, and just having it as a dream for 10 years. The dream came true today, and it’s just been incredible.”
What did her scorecard say about her performance?
Pawol had an even bigger moment Sunday, calling balls and strikes for the first time. She called 92.7% of balls and strikes accurately during the series finale, getting 140 of the 151 taken pitches accurate according to Umpire Scorecards. Their umpire average for the 2025 season is 94.2%.
Another online measuring service, Umpire Auditor, posted some numbers as well, along with a comment, “Umpire Jen Pawol missed the first call of the game, but settled in to call a relatively unremarkable game.” She missed 14 calls and had a correct call rate of 90.3%. She was ranked 13th of 15 umpires on the day.
Her 92.7% hit rate puts her neck-and-neck with several full-time MLB umpires, including veterans Laz Diaz at 92.6% and CB Bucknor with 92.8%. Both tend to draw the most criticism from fans. She’s also on par with more anonymous umps like Bruce Dreckman’s 92.7% and Carlos Torres’ 93.1%.
What did the players and managers say about Pawol?
Pawol also received praise from Braves Manager Brian Snitker and Marlins Manager Clayton McCullough.
“I think Jen did a really nice job,” McCullough said. “I think she’s very composed back there. She handled and managed the game very well. And a big day for her, big day for Major League Baseball. I congratulated her again on that because it’s quite the accomplishment. I wished her the best moving forward.”
The 48-year-old’s road to the big leagues has mirrored many players and coaches. She was a softball player at Hofstra University and umpired college softball games for six seasons before attending an MLB tryout camp in 2015. She worked her way through the minors and in 2024 became the first female in 21 years to umpire games in major league spring training.
It’s not known when Pawol will umpire another major league game, but after passing the first test, she will stay on the call-up list with around 15 Triple-A call-up candidates.
