n August 9th, we witnessed something so rare and special, but very few took notice of history in the making. On this special day, we witnessed New Jersey-born Jennifer Pawol receive a promotion from her minor league position to serve as a professional umpire in Major League Baseball. Does it get any better than that?? This isn’t just your average news story – this is a huge deal.
Let’s start from the beginning. Over 10 years ago Jennifer was a West Milford high school graduate and became a well-respected athlete at Hofstra University. She played softball and soccer, but aspired to someday umpire softball or baseball professionally.
She was first introduced to the world of umpiring during her formative college years. To help pay the bills, Jen started umpiring softball games for $15 per game. During her first game, Jen realized that she was in for an education as she later stated, “I had no idea what I was doing.” She managed the game perfectly as the solo umpire calling balls and strikes and her love of the profession began.
Before Jen was truly bitten by the umpire bug, she had an idea that teaching was in her future. She decided to pursue several teaching degrees from the Pratt Institute and Hunter College, which she later received. But she dared to dream big. Who among us would ever dare to dream to challenge yourself to do something that no one else dared to do?
The road between picking up umpiring gigs to help pay college costs to the big leagues is a long and hardly traveled one – a road that is infinitely more difficult if you are a female. So how does a female break this unfair glass ceiling?
After umpiring several NCAA softball games, Jennifer was approached by former big league umpire Ted Barrett at a camp in Binghamton, NY in 2015. After some tutoring by Barrett, she attended an MLB camp for umpires. Shortly thereafter, Jennifer began umpiring minor league games. From 2015 to 2025, Jennifer continued to work her way up through the minor leagues by umpiring over 1,200 games. I have discussed the importance of mentorship in past columns – Ted Barrett exemplifies everything we love about leadership and mentoring. But mentoring and hard work alone aren’t enough. So how does Jennifer make it to the Big Show?
For those of us who know the grueling and unforgiving nature of making your way through the minor leagues to hopefully make it big one day, I can state that it is a long and arduous journey. A quick side note: as I need to disclose an event that provided me with some cool insight on this rarely disclosed industry. I had some involvement with a current major league umpire who was unceremoniously removed as a candidate umpire from the MLB after making it as a reserve in 1993. To help right a wrong, I was asked to land a meeting with the then-president of the National League and the then-inactive umpire. After some investigation, the Essex County resident was granted an exemption to return umpiring the minor leagues and some 6 years later he found himself behind home plate at Shea (now Citibank Stadium) during the Sunday game of the week on ESPN. I was fortunate enough to witness that journey and that experience somehow made me more appreciate the intimidating climb made by Jennifer Pawol.
Let’s return to the focus of this column. Jennifer long dreamed about becoming a major league umpire, but the problem was that there were no female major league umpires – that is until she got that astonishing call on August 9th. Jennifer was in her hotel room in Nashville when the phone rang. The MLB Director of Umpire Development, Rich Rieker, and Vice President of Umpire Operations, Matt McKendry, made the offer that Jennifer never thought she would hear. She was being called up to the big leagues. This was monumental.
On the day of her groundbreaking first game, Jennifer said it perfectly, “the dream actually came true today. I’m still living in it. I’m so grateful to my family and Major League Baseball for creating such an incredible work environment . . . I’m just so thankful.”
Jennifer is an inspiration to all, and not just women. She is a true role model and perfectly embodies the key traits of determination, toughness, and guts. Obviously, it is a shame that there have been no female MLB umpires until now, but this is another glass ceiling shattered, and we are better because of it.
Jennifer’s accomplishment is worth talking about, worth writing about, and hopefully we will recognize this milestone for a long time. I’m hoping the New Jersey Legislature will recognize this groundbreaking individual and also the mentor who inspired and supported our favorite major league umpire.
Until that time, we wish Jennifer Pawol a hearty congratulations and I’m hoping she remains an inspiration for all to dare to dream big.
