LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jen Pawol, who made history last year as the first woman umpire in the major leagues, was behind the plate for the Angels-Dodgers game on Friday night.
Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani greeted her leading off the bottom of the first inning as he customarily does with the umpire in each of his at-bats.
Pawol, 49, umpired during spring training for the third straight year but she did not get one of the permanent staff openings. Instead, she is part of MLB's call-up list.
She worked her first game of the automated balls and strikes challenge system on April 17 when the Giants visited the Nationals.
She became the first female major league umpire on Aug. 9, 2025, and worked a total of five big league games last season. In 2024, she became the first woman to umpire big league spring training games since Ria Cortesio in 2007. Pawol has been a minor league ump since 2016 and has worked at Triple-A since 2023.
Pawol was flirting with potential history early in Friday's game.
Angels starter Reid Detmers tossed three hitless innings before allowing a single to Freddie Freeman in the fourth.
Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki pitched no-hit ball through the first four innings before giving up a double to Nick Madrigal in the fifth.
This story has been corrected to show Jen Pawol previously umpired this season.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Home plate umpire Jen Pawol stands at home during the third inning of a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels, Friday, June 5, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Home plate umpire Jen Pawol asks for more baseballs during the third inning of a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels, Friday, June 5, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AP) — The legacy of Xabi Alonso still looms large at Bayer Leverkusen. Now the team he led to an unlikely Bundesliga title is trying to find success again with another Spanish coach.
Carles Martínez told the Associated Press he wants to learn from Alonso's example, and might seek the now-Chelsea coach 's advice, but he wants to put his own imprint on Leverkusen.
It's barely a year since Alonso left Leverkusen for Real Madrid, and two since he led Leverkusen to the German title and an historic unbeaten league season.
Martínez arrives from Toulouse amid hopes he can turn things around after Leverkusen started 2025-26 under Erik ten Hag, only to fire him after three games, then missed Champions League qualification under replacement Kasper Hjulmand.
“One thing I have learned a lot is to accept the reality, accept the place that you are (at), and here in Leverkusen it’s normal that the brand of Xabi Alonso (remains) because what they did was amazing and we have to try to take advantage of a lot of things from that,” he told the AP on Friday.
“But also it’s important that now it’s one year without Xabi Alonso. I’m sure that if I talk with him he will try to help (the club) to be better. But the most important is that after one year, come on, (I have to) learn about which type of things was amazing, which type of things Kasper (Hjulmand) did as well, and which type of things can improve, and after (that) it’s keep growing, keep building Leverkusen history. This is very, very important.”
Martínez said he wants to focus on communication with players and building team spirit — something that was much criticized during Ten Hag's brief tenure last year.
Once a Barcelona youth coach who worked with a young Gavi and Xavi Simons, Martínez wants to develop more young talent at Leverkusen, which has a reputation for producing some of Europe's top players like Kai Havertz and Florian Wirtz.
Leverkusen sporting managing director Simon Rolfes told the AP he was aiming for stability in the squad after last season's turmoil, and signings this offseason would focus on “more precise” changes to the team.
“Last summer was a massive change of the squad, massive change of key players. So we really needed to restart building the squad,” Rolfes said. “Last summer for sure there were so many question marks in so many things and that was a challenge, so I think we can take advantage this summer from the things we did last summer.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Bayer Leverkusen new coach Carles Martinez Novell smiles during his presentation at a press conference in Leverkusen, Germany, Friday June 5, 2026. (Anke Waelischmiller/dpa via AP)
