Jen Pawol

Jennifer Pawol (born c. 1976 or 1977) is an American baseball umpire who currently works in Minor League Baseball. She is just the seventh woman to work as a professional baseball umpire.

Education
Attending West Milford High School in West Milford, New Jersey, Pawol played soccer and softball, attending Hofstra University on an athletic scholarship and playing as a catcher in Division-I softball for the Pride. It was during this time that she began umpiring softball games.

Before going into professional umpiring, Pawol was an art teacher. She is a graduate of the Pratt Institute (B.F.A.) and Hunter College (M.F.A.). During this time, she continued to umpire part-time in amateur softball leagues.

Umpiring career
After umpiring softball games part-time for 11 years, Pawol decided to go into umpiring full-time. In 2016, she attended the Minor League Baseball Umpire Training Academy in Vero Beach, Florida. Her performance at the academy led to a spot in the MiLB Advanced Course which she completed in 2017. That same year, she began her professional baseball career in the Gulf Coast League.

During the 2023 season, she worked at the Triple-A level in both the International League and the Pacific Coast League, and was the home plate umpire during the Triple-A National Championship Game. She was the first female umpire to work at the Triple-A level in 34 years.

In 2024, Pawol became only the third woman to umpire in spring training, after Pam Postema and Ria Cortesio. She was the third base umpire during a game between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals. She will act as a crew chief in Triple-A during the 2024 baseball season. In March, it was reported that Pawol was placed on MLB's call-up list for the 2024 season, meaning that she could be called up to the majors in the event a full-time Major League umpire is not available.