Note: Portions of the historical content of this piece are from a prior blog article, “You’re Out”.

My first managerial job was in 1993 when I led my oldest daughter’s fastpitch softball team. The team’s leadoff batter and one of our pitchers was a quiet, yet confident, girl named Kelly. She was the perfect leader – attended each practice and game, hustled on every play, and cheered with and encouraged her teammates. It was a joy to coach her. Years later I attended a game umpired by a young woman with a long ponytail who was definitely in charge and in the correct position on every play. It was Kelly! She had become an umpire to earn a few bucks on the side. We both smiled as we chatted after the game and caught up a little. Kelly, I’m sure, is smiling broadly today.

On August 9th Jen Pawol became the first woman ever to umpire an MLB game. She was the first base umpire in the first game of a doubleheader between the Marlins and Braves in Atlanta. With 50 family members and friends in full support in the stands, her first game by all accounts went smoothly. Braves manager Brian Snitker said simply: “You can tell she knows what she does.” The umpire cap she wore that day is on its way to the Hall of Fame. And on the next day, Pawol manned home plate in the series finale. In her words: “The dream actually came true today.”

Jen’s path to the big leagues is an interesting one. In college she starred as a softball catcher for Hofstra University while umpiring softball games on the side at $15/game. As a player, she was a member of the gold medal winning U.S. team in the Women’s Baseball World Series. She continued to umpire softball games part time for 11 years. In 2016, she attended formal umpire training in Vero Beach, FL, and her performance landed her an umpire spot in the Gulf Coast League the next year. She migrated her way through the minors, landing a job at the Triple-A level beginning in 2023. Jen became the first woman umpire at AAA in 34 years.

Pawol also has a right to smile in securing a spot in the MLB this season. An MLB umpire is one of the highest paid officials in professional sports. A first-year umpire starts in the $100,000s while veteran umps often earn three times that annual salary. In the playoffs an MLB umpire can make around $20,000 per game, a little more than Jen’s $15 per game umpiring softball. Turnover is low, which is good for those who have made it to the big leagues and bad for those struggling in the minor leagues to get there. For umpires toiling in the minor leagues the road is long, the pay is barely adequate, and most often there is a dead end sign ahead.

I wish I could say that I have followed the careers of MLB umpires. Yes, some last names ring a bell, especially when they span across two generations and 50+ years of service, such as these father and son combinations – Ed and Paul Runge; Tom and Brian Gorman; and Shag and Jerry Crawford. But just like everyone else, my memory of umpires concerns bad calls. In Game 1 of the 1970 World Series between Cincinnati and Baltimore a controversial call made by home plate umpire Ken Burkhart is still painful to remember. As the Reds Bernie Carbo ran home avoiding the tag of Orioles catcher Elrod Hendricks, Burkhardt raised his fist in the air signaling an out. Fifty years later I can still hear Reds manager Sparky Anderson screaming “there’s no way possible” at Burkhart.

And then there was “The Call” in the 1985 World Series that decided the Missouri interstate match-up between St. Louis and Kansas City. The Cardinals led 3 games to 2 with a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 6. Jorge Orta, the Royals leadoff batter, hit a bouncing ball toward Cardinals first baseman Jack Clark who tossed it to pitcher Todd Worrell, clearly beating Orta to the bag. Yet, instead of raising his fist for an out, first base umpire Don Denkinger signaled safe. The Royals won the game 2-1 and dominated Game 7 in 11-0 fashion, setting off a celebration on the wrong side of the state.

The 1970 and 1985 World Series calls would have been most probably overturned in today’s replay review. When the system expanded in 2014 to include more than just disputed home run calls, baseball fans and commentators have offered endless criticism on what plays are reviewable and how much time it takes to make a review decision. Since we have state of the art technology available now, I contend that we should be able to correct as many missed calls on the field as possible. The issue is putting in place a system that is fair, transparent, and timely.

Over the past few seasons minor league baseball has experimented with an Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system with much success. ABS does not utilize robot umpires, as some feared, but rather technology to assist umpires in calling balls and strikes. During spring training play this year, MLB incorporated a challenge system. Challenges to calls can only be made on the field by the pitcher, catcher, or batter, and needs to be done so quickly. MLB is working toward implementing ABS next season.

ABS doesn’t and shouldn’t replace umpires, especially the likes of Jen Pawol and other female umpires arriving someday soon in the big leagues. Let’s keep Jen and Kelly smiling.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach