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New York Times
2 minutes ago
- New York Times
Female umpire Jen Pawol takes field, breaks MLB barrier
ATLANTA — Stationed near first base in the familiar blue uniform, Jen Pawol watched intently as the Atlanta Braves' Hurston Waldrep fired the first pitch of a doubleheader Saturday. With that, Pawol, 48, made major-league history as the first female umpire to work a regular-season game. The moment completed a journey that took Pawol more than 1,200 minor-league games — and took women more than a century. Advertisement 'I'm aware of the gravity; I'm aware of the magnitude' of breaking through this barrier, Pawol said during a Zoom call with reporters Thursday. 'I believe that I'm going to be a very good steward and representative for young girls and women, and boys and men, that this is possible.' Pam Postema, who reached the Triple-A level in the 1980s but never umpired a regular-season MLB game, said of Pawol in a text message to The Athletic, 'I followed her career. Couldn't happen to a better person. I always knew there would be a woman in the big leagues. It just took time.' Pawol was assigned to work the bases for the Marlins-Braves doubleheader on Saturday at Truist Park — first base for the opener, third base for the doubleheader nightcap. For the series finale on Sunday, she is slated to be behind the plate. During the pregame lineup exchange at home plate, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough shook Pawol's hand and held it a little longer than usual as he leaned in to say something to her. The umpires and team representatives then had a group photo taken, with Braves bench coach Walt Weiss standing next to Pawol, his hand on her shoulder. Pawol ran out to her position before the first pitch and received a notably louder ovation than the other three umpires when their names were announced. Marlins first-base coach Tyler Smarslock shook her hand. Braves first baseman Matt Olson gave her a salute. Pawol, a Hofstra University graduate, called MLB spring training games in 2024, becoming the first female umpire to do so since 2007. She was only the third woman to umpire a major-league spring training game. Pawol powered toward Saturday's milestone by umpiring in the Triple-A International League since 2023 and was the first woman to umpire the International League championship game. She was the first woman to umpire a game at that level in 35 years. Advertisement The opportunity she hoped for, and worked so long to get, came Saturday. MLB rules require a fifth member to be added to an umpiring crew when there is a doubleheader, as is the case for the Marlins and Braves on Saturday, because each home-plate umpire skips the game they aren't calling. Enter Pawol, who etched her name in history. She was in her Nashville hotel room Wednesday when she got the call — director of umpire development Rich Rieker and vice president of umpire operations Matt McKendry were on the line to inform her she was going to make her MLB debut Saturday in Atlanta. 'I was overcome with emotion,' Pawol said during the Zoom call with reporters Thursday. Ted Barrett, who spent 29 years as a big-league umpire, told The Athletic this week, 'It has to be the right woman, just like a man — it's a physically demanding job, and Jen is certainly capable of doing it. 'There's a lot of women out there that are capable of doing it. My hope is that as she makes her debut, this brings awareness to it. And who knows, there might be a young girl watching her on TV and saying, 'That's something I'd like to pursue.'' This breakthrough comes long after other major sports leagues took the lead in hiring female officials, including the NBA (in 1997) and the NFL (2015). (Photo of Jen Pawol from before Saturday's game: David J. Griffin / Icon Sportswire 2025 / Associated Press) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
2 minutes ago
- New York Times
Don Elbaum, Audacious Boxing Promoter and Heavyweight Raconteur, Dies at 94
Don Elbaum, a swashbuckling boxing figure who promoted Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali, along with less notable pugilists who fought for their dreams in smoky Holiday Inn ballrooms and dingy American Legion halls, died on July 27 in Erie, Pa. He was 94. His death, in a hospice facility, was confirmed by his son Kipp. Compared during his eight-decade career to P.T. Barnum, Don Quixote and a Damon Runyon character, Mr. Elbaum juked and sometimes jabbed his way to prominence in a sport whose outside-the-ring personalities become mythical figures and occasionally prison inmates — for four months, in Mr. Elbaum's case, on tax evasion charges. 'Don was a scoundrel, but he was a talented scoundrel and a colorful scoundrel — a well-intentioned scoundrel,' Lou DiBella, a boxing manager and former head of programming for HBO Sports, said in an interview. 'He told the most wonderful, incredible, remarkable stories, and a decent percentage of them were true.' Mr. Elbaum once staged a bout to decide the 'World's Worst Boxer,' matching two combatants who had never won a fight. Squaring off at a packed Elks Club in Ohio, the fighters had agreed that the loser would retire. The contest ended in a draw, naturally. In 1965, he hyped a Robinson fight in Johnstown, Pa., as 'The Biggest Event Since the Johnstown Flood,' a catastrophe that killed 2, 209 people in 1889. Hoping to generate headlines at a news conference before the bout, Mr. Elbaum surprised Robinson with the gloves the fighter had worn in his first match. Putting them on, Robinson discovered that both gloves were right-handed. Robinson, it turned out, did not have two right hands; the gloves were spares that Mr. Elbaum kept in his trunk. Robinson realized what was happening and told the reporters he couldn't bring himself to put them on. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Associated Press
2 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Jen Pawol breaks MLB's gender barrier as the first female umpire to work a regular-season game
ATLANTA (AP) — Jen Pawol has made history as the first female umpire to work a regular-season game in the major leagues. Pawol's much-anticipated debut came as the first base umpire for Saturday's first game of a split doubleheader between the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins. She enjoyed a quiet first inning, watching as Braves right-hander Hurston Waldrep struck out the first two batters before Agustin Ramirez lined out to third baseman Nacho Alvarez. The Braves also were set down in order by Miami right-hander Ryan Gusto in the bottom of the first inning, with no calls from Pawol needed at first base. As the first base umpire, Pawol's responsibility was to check Waldrep's hands for foreign substances following the inning. During that brief encounter she also appeared to receive a warm greeting from Braves catcher Sean Murphy on his way to the dugout. Pawol will work third base in Saturday night's second game of the doubleheader. She will be in the spotlight when she calls pitches behind the plate in Sunday's final game of the series. There was much anticipation for her historic debut on Saturday. A crowd of photographers gathered while waiting for the umpires to walk onto the field from their entry ramp near the Marlins dugout. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough and Braves bench coach Walt Weiss greeted Pawol when lineups were exchanged at home plate before the game. Pawol then jogged down the first base line. She shook hands with Marlins first base coach Tyler Smarslok before taking her position on the right field line for the first pitch. Pawol said Thursday she was 'overcome with emotion' when notified she would make her Major League Baseball debut this weekend. 'It was super emotional to finally be living that phone call that I'd been hoping for and working towards for quite a while, and I just felt super full — I feel like a fully charged battery ready to go,' Pawol said. Pawol, 48, has been working in the minor leagues since she was assigned to the Gulf Coast League in 2016. She was assigned the Triple-A championship game in 2023 and worked spring training games in 2024 and again this year. Pawol, who is from New Jersey, had only a few days to prepare for Saturday's doubleheader. She said she was told of her long-awaited promotion during a Wednesday conference call with director of umpire development Rich Rieker and vice president of umpire operations Matt McKendry. Pawol was a three-time all-conference softball selection pick at Hofstra. She worked as an NCAA softball umpire from 2010-16. Pawol's rise to make MLB history came 28 years after the NBA gender barrier for game officials was broken and 10 years after the NFL hired its first full-time female official. The men's soccer World Cup first hired a female referee three years ago. The NHL has not had any women as on-ice officials. ___ AP MLB:
