MLB's first woman umpire to debut as Jen Pawol gets nod

New York: Jen Pawol will make history Saturday as the first woman to be an umpire in a regular-season Major League Baseball game, taking the field to officiate in three games between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.

Pawol will work both games of a Saturday double-header and will be the home plate umpire for the series finale on Sunday, Major League baseball said on Wednesday.

The 48-year-old has been climbing the umpiring ranks since launching her officiating career in Rookie ball in 2016.

She has officiated in minor league baseball's Triple-A level and in major league pre-season games.

Last year she became the first woman umpire in a Spring Training game since Ria Cortesio in 2007.

"Anybody in baseball will tell you that you've just got to keep it simple, keep working hard, put your all into it and get ready for the next day," Pawol said last year. "That's all I think about every day -- get better before tomorrow."

MLB's addition of a female umpire comes 28 years after Violet Palmer became the first woman to referee an NBA game in October of 1997.

Shannon Eastin was the NFL's first female on-field official, hired as a replacement when regular officials were locked out in a contract dispute in September of 2012.

Three-years later Sarah Thomas became the NFL's first full-time female on-field official and last year two women worked on the officiating crew of the same game for the first time.

Stephanie Frappart of France was the first woman to referee a men's World Cup match when she worked a group stage match in 2022.