Calling History

Last week in Atlanta, Jen Pawol became the first woman to umpire a Major League game.

This wasn’t ceremonial. Pawol has worked thousands of games and earned her spot among minor league umpires called up when needed.

Earlier in the week, I talked with Chris Guccione in Boston as his crew worked the Royals–Red Sox series. By the weekend, he was Pawol’s first crew chief, telling the media he had chills thinking about the magnitude of the moment. “This is one of the proudest moments I’ve been part of in my career,” said Guccione, who has a daughter who met Pawol and understands the impact.

Fans in Atlanta greeted her with signs and applause, a contrast to the reception Suzyn Waldman got decades ago as the first female reporter on sports radio and later as the voice of the Yankees.

As she told me in a conversation I recounted in my recent book Small Ball Big Dreams, “The radio people thought I was taking a job away from a real reporter, meaning male.”

Waldman persevered, paving the way for others, and just days before Pawol’s debut, game two of the Royals series in Boston featured another milestone with an all-women’s TV broadcast crew that included my friend Alanna Rizzo.

In Minnesota, crew chief and umpires’ union president Dan Bellino told me, “We’re very proud of her… we hope it inspires the next generation of women officials.”

That’s what makes Pawol’s debut so meaningful. She didn’t just break a barrier, she stepped in prepared and embraced.

Progress isn’t fast enough, but every step matters.

That’s small ball.

Whose success are you celebrating that’s paving the way for others?

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