Bloggerlife.blog

08/11/2025

Today’s blog

Lynn Murphy Mark

A crack in the glass

This weekend something happened in Major League Baseball that is of a most phenomenal nature. MLB has been around since 1876, when the National League was formed. This was followed in 1901 by the establishment of the American League. Two years later, the two joined and formed the oldest major professional sports league in the world. Fast forward to 2000 when both leagues merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball.

There have been other major milestones. On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke through the color barrier to start at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He had played for the Negro Leagues’ Kansas City Monarchs for a couple of years. This “bold” move was followed that same year by the signing of Larry Doby to the Cleveland Indians, and the rest is history. What had been called, a “gentleman’s agreement” to keep African American athletes from playing in the major leagues dissolved. But it still took 7 more years for another five teams to integrate. Happy to say, the Cardinals were among that group. Finally, in 1959, the last hold out – the Boston Red Sox – signed Pumpsie Green to their roster.

A lot of this has happened in my lifetime. Growing up in Mexico I missed out on the enjoyment of baseball until one trip home to the United States when my dad took me to see a New York Yankees game. I remember it was a brilliantly sunny day and I was awed by the crowd and its reactions to good plays. 

Now I have experienced another miraculous milestone: a woman has become a Major League umpire. Jen Pawol, age 48, moved up from minor league games to take the field at a Marlins/Braves game. I would have given anything to see that. She worked the bases for the first two games, then stood behind the plate as the boss umpire yesterday. I have seen clips of the other three umpires shaking her hand and hugging her as a welcome to their world. Among the crowd were signs congratulating her, and thanking her on behalf of all girls and women who love baseball. She will donate her umpire cap and her scorecard to the MLB Hall of Fame to mark this occasion.

She didn’t get to Truist Field without a lot of hard work in the minor leagues. Her baseball career includes umpiring more than 1200 minor-league games. Baseball is in her blood. She has played softball in high school and earned a scholarship to college where she played as a catcher and began umpiring softball games for $15 a game. That is peanuts compare to a MLB umpire who can make between $150 and $450 K a year.

She made a career as an art teacher, having graduated from Fine Arts programs at Pratt Institute and Hunter College. She remained a part-time umpire for over a decade until she decided to attend an umpire training class in Florida and was rapidly selected for a spot in the MLB Advanced Course. In 2017 she began her umpiring career in the Gulf Coast League of the minors. She is not the first woman to umpire in the minor leagues. That honor belongs to several women, all of whom are mentors and supporters of Jen Pawol. 

Despite her selection to umpire at a MLB game, she will return to the minors as a person who can be called up to the majors to fill in if needed. Apparently it is possible for her to be called up as a full time MLB umpire next baseball season. I hope that happens for her. I would pay to see a game where she is behind the plate.