Safe!

I have to wonder why some people - most of them being male, but not all - are so quick to hoot and holler at Jen Pawol being given a chance to advance to the major leagues in her chosen field, that of umpiring baseball games.  

She's 48, so she didn't just ride in here on a turnip truck. She called more than 1,200 games in the minor leagues, the crucible for getting to the bigs, and when the Marlins and Braves had a doubleheader scheduled over the weekend, an extra person was needed on the umpire crew, and she got her chance.

And she did well, scoring a 93% accuracy on balls and strikes, according to the Statcast system of rating officials. That's right up there with many fulltime MLB umps.

 

With camera replays and technology that didn't even exist in the imagination back in the day, umpires are subject to a lot more scrutiny. This has been a change for the better. One can cite countless cases of wrong calls back before replay was available, and nothing could be done. A Detroit pitcher years ago had one out to go for a perfect game, and  MALE ump Jim Joyce called a guy safe at first, when people three counties over could see he was out. But in those days, the only voice that mattered was not a camera or a computer, just one man. 

Now the man or woman who makes the calls has all the tools he or she needs to make a correct decision, and that's good. 

As to why some people don't want to see a woman do the job, ask them! The answers are ridiculous versions of "It's a man's game!" or "But we've never had a woman ump before!" 

Well, you do now. Get with it. She will make mistakes, just like the men. She will please people and anger people in her days, but the ultimate accolade to pay to any official is that you watch the game and don't even notice who's in blue. 

When we get to that point, we'll be better off.