Jen Pawol becomes 1st woman to umpire major league spring training game since 2007

It took eight years but Jen Pawol made the leap from the minors to a major league game spring training contest as umpire at the Grapefruit League opener between the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals at CACTI Park of The Palm Beaches on Saturday in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Pawol's spring training debut marked the first time since 2007 that a woman umpired a major league spring training game, last done by Ria Cortesio. With a ponytail coming out of her ballcap, Pawol was stationed at third base.

After the traditional pre-game meeting with the umpires and managers at home plate, the group posed for pictures. Nationals manager Dave Martinez shook Pawol's hand and chatted with her briefly.

Jen Pawol is an umpire in tonight’s Astros-Nationals game. She began the game as the third base ump.<br><br>She’s the first woman to work an MLB <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpringTraining?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SpringTraining</a> game in 17 years. <a href="https://t.co/qgmt4aQU8L">pic.twitter.com/qgmt4aQU8L</a>

Eight years ago, Pawol, a former New Jersey high school softball star who played at Hofstra, became just the seventh women to umpire a minor league baseball game.

Across the next few weeks, Pawol, 47, will be based in Palm Beach County to work other spring training games. No woman has ever been assigned to umpire a regular season game in the majors.

MLB's move comes 27 years after the gender barrier for game officials was broken in the NBA, nine years after it ended the NFL and two years after the men's soccer World Cup employed a female referee.

"For any umpire, working in the pro system, this is a big, big deal," Pawol told reporters on a Zoom call in February. "This means so much. It's the culmination of a