Jen Pawol, 48, was given an ovation when she took to the pitch for a game between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves
I
t was, she said, the day “the dream came true”. Jen Pawol, a 48-year-old former art teacher, made US sporting history at the weekend when she became the first female umpire of a Major League Baseball game during the regular season.
Pawol, whose debut came on Saturday in a game between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves, was given a standing ovation as she arrived on the pitch. Supporters held up signs reading “Pawol making HERstory” and “the time has come for one and all to play ball” – a nostalgic reference to A League of Their Own, the classic sports film about a women’s baseball league during the second world war.
Pawol told reporters: “Wow, just incredible, the dream came true … the dream actually came true today.” She added: “It was pretty amazing when we took the field, and it seemed like quite a few people started clapping and saying my name, so that was pretty intense and very emotional.”
