Jen Pawol made history on Saturday, becoming the first woman to officiate a Major League Baseball regular-season game. The 48-year-old worked the bases during the Miami Marlins–Atlanta Braves doubleheader at Truist Park in Atlanta and is slated to take over home-plate duties for the series finale on Sunday. Pawol’s appointment caps a steady rise that began in 2016 when she entered the rookie-level Gulf Coast League. She progressed through every rung of the minors, reached the Triple-A International League in 2023 and last season became the first woman to umpire that circuit’s championship game. Pawol had already broken ground in spring training, calling MLB exhibition games in 2024 and 2025—the first woman to do so since 2007. MLB’s move narrows the gender-equity gap in professional officiating nearly three decades after the NBA and a decade after the NFL first employed women referees. The league has 76 full-time staff umpires and routinely supplements crews with temporary call-ups, a pipeline Pawol’s promotion suggests could open wider to women seeking permanent roles.