WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — It took eight years, but Jen Pawol made the jump from the minors to a major league spring training contest as an umpire in the Grapefruit League opener between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on Saturday.
Pawol's spring training debut marked the first time a woman had officiated a major league spring training game since 2007, most recently by Ria Cortesio. With a ponytail sticking out of her ball cap, Pawol was stationed at third base.
After the traditional pre-match meeting with the on-site referees and managers, the group posed for photos. Nationals manager Dave Martinez shook Pawol's hand and chatted with her briefly.
Eight years ago, Pawol, a former high school softball star from New Jersey who played at Hofstra, became only the seventh woman to referee a minor league baseball game.
“I really appreciate everyone’s enthusiasm and welcoming attitude from everyone on the field,” Pawol said after the Astros’ 7-4 win in front of 3,655 fans. “Tonight was something very special. Both managers warmly congratulated, everyone was warm and enthusiastic. There have been so many congratulations from the players on the field and it's great to see you up here. A gentleman, Javier (Bracamonte, Astros bullpen coach), he ran out at the start of the game and said he has a daughter who plays all kinds of sports. “It’s good to see you out here.”
For the next few weeks, Pawol, 47, will be stationed in Palm Beach County to work other spring training games. No woman has ever been assigned the job of officiating a regular-season game in the majors.
On Sunday, Pawol will work behind the plate for the Nationals-Marlins game at Jupiter. She has no timeline for when she might compete in regular-season competition.
With a rotation set every three innings, Pawol moved to second base in the fourth. She then went to first base in the seventh inning, where she saw most of her action. She called out two consecutive Astros batters with groundouts early in the seventh. On their closest call in the bottom of the seventh, Pawol gave a safe leadoff after the Nationals' Travis Blankenhorn appeared to hit a grounder to first that was bobbled.
Pawol's most notable maneuver came early in the fourth quarter when she stopped play after realizing the Astros were without a centerfielder. Justin Dirden of the Astros jumped out of the dugout and ran to center field.
“Tomorrow I have to go out and do it all again,” Pawol said. “That’s my next job. “Everyone in baseball will tell you to keep it simple and work hard, give it your all and prepare for the next day.”
MLB's move comes 27 years after the NBA broke the gender barrier for game officials, nine years after the end of the NFL and two years after the men's World Cup introduced a female referee.
“This is a rewarding career as a professional referee – for men and women, girls and boys,” she said. “I didn’t know that for the first few years when I started refereeing amateur ball for 10 years.”
Pam Postema, who worked in the 1970s and 1980s, was the first woman to officiate a spring training game.
“It’s in my DNA,” Pawol said. “When I started refereeing, I said it was for me.”
Crew chief Lance Barksdale called it “a great experience.”
“It was a big deal for Jen,” Barksdale said. “She deserves the chance to come here. I told her in the sixth inning that we didn't have a lot of plays to begin with, but the only thing the higher-ups can watch is the way you present yourself and put yourself in a position to make decisions. She did a very good job. And later she initially had close plays and managed to get them to the point. “I don’t want her to put any extra pressure on herself.”
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