MLB Ejection 071 - Adam Hamari (1; Steven Souza)

3B Umpire Adam Hamari ejected Padres hitting coach Steven Souza (ABS challenge denial by HP Umpire Jen Pawol to Sung-Mun Song; QOCN) in the bottom of the 2nd inning of the #BlueJays-#Padres game. With one out and the bases loaded, Padres batter Song took a 3-0 fastball from Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman for a called first strike. Song then attempted to challenge the call, but the request was denied by HP Umpire Pawol. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the heart of home plate and at the hollow beneath the knee (px -0.15, pz 1.58 [sz_bot 1.61 / RAD 1.49]), but that the challenge was timely, the call was incorrect.* At the time of the ejection, the Padres were leading, 2-1. The Padres ultimately won the contest, 5-4.

This is Adam Hamari (78)'s 1st ejection of 2026.

*The strike call was correct, but the decision to deny the challenge request was incorrect.

One batter later, Pawol called a balk on Blue Jays pitcher Gausman for taking a second step during delivery in Set Position. Gausman had failed to declare he was pitching in Windup Position (feet were in 'Hybrid' and parallel to the rubber) prior to that particular at-bat, meaning he was presumed to be pitching in Set Position, making the second step (the step back) illegal.

This is the 71st ejection report of the 2026 MLB regular season.

This is the 14th coach ejection of 2026. Ejection Tally: 37 Managers, 14 Coaches, 20 Players.

This is San Diego's 6th ejection of 2026, 3rd in the NL West (SD 6; SF 4; ARI 1; COL, LAD 0).

This is Steven Sousa's 1st ejection since Sept 6, 2018 (Mark Ripperger; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

This is Adam Hamari's 1st ejection since July 6, 2025 (John Mallee; QOC = N [Out of Base Path]).

Wrap: Toronto Blue Jays vs San Diego Padres, 7/12/26 | Video as follows:

Jen Pawol is First Woman to Umpire MLB Regular Season Game

Jen Pawol will be the first woman to umpire MLB regular season baseball during the Marlins-Braves game in Atlanta this weekend, a move generations in the making. Here's a brief history of why it took so long and why women and minorities—including Angel Hernandez—had to keep suing professional baseball for a chance to take the field.

Bernice Gera, who in 1972 was the first woman to officiate a minor league game had to file litigation against professional baseball in order to compel the powers that be to allow her onto the field.

At the time, Hall of Fame Umpire Al Barlick allegedly said Gera "belongs in the kitchen — where all women belong, or most of them." Years later, Barlick allegedly told then-minor leaguer Al Clark, "I’ll tell you one thing. As long as I’m alive, there will never be another f*n’ Jew umpire in my league."

Barlick served as a National League supervisor after retirement from umpiring on the field and was partially responsible for hiring decisions. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989, despite his history of purportedly sexist and racist statements.

And THAT level of systemic discrimination has been baseball's rot-from-within for years and decades.

Since then, several women, including Pam Postema who made it all the way to Triple-A in the late 1980s, have been stopped short of the major leagues, though multiple sex discrimination lawsuits filed by Postema and others have resulted in settlements along the way.

When Angel Hernandez sued baseball alleging racially-motivated discrimination in 2017, it served as a turning point in how the league treats marginalized groups working their way through the umpiring ranks. In addition to promotions of minority crew chiefs Alfonso Márquez, Laz Diaz, and Kerwin Danley in the years that followed (after a decades-long gap without a non-white chief), professional baseball changed its hiring outlook, both at the MLB level and the MiLB level, with more diverse classes each year.

If you haven't yet read our analysis of Angel Hernandez's lawsuit against MLB alleging racial discrimination, and discussing baseball's historical trend toward a nearly-universal umpiring underrepresentation of protected classes, you might want to consult the following links:
Related Post: Angel Hernandez, MLB, and Discrimination (Part 1) (7/12/17).
Related Post: Angel Hernandez, MLB, and Discrimination (Part 2) (7/13/17).

Video as follows:

Four MiLB El Paso Ejections Over Tag Plays

Four El Paso Chihuahuas were ejected by MiLB umpires Kelvis Velez and Jen Pawol during a series vs Round Rock after a pair of contested tag plays that, by minor league rule, aren't reviewable because nothing is at that level (typically). What does game management say about all this?

In Velez' case, El Paso catcher Kevin Plawecki, 2B Nate Mondou, and manager Pete Zamora were ejected arguing after an RBI single which itself followed a safe call on a stolen base attempt at second base. Mondou and Zamora, specifically, argued the safe call when it occurred, Zamora returning to the dugout and Mondou to his position. Thus, those two ejections were for continuing to argue a previous play, while Plawecki charged up the third base line to confront the umpire to earn his dismissal.

For Pawol, 3B Eguy Rosario made a beeline toward the crew chief after a safe call at third base, making a finger pointing gesture just feet from Pawol's face.

Video as follows:

MiLB Manager Ejected Arguing a Call That Helped Him

Columbus Clippers manager Andy Tracy passionately argued himself through an ejection from HP Umpire Macon Hammond, even though the play Tracy was arguing actually benefited his own team. With one out and the bases loaded, Clippers batter Myles Straw hit a line drive to Mud Hens 2B Jace Jung, ruled an out on the catch by 3B Umpire Kelvis Velez. Both Velez and 1B Umpire Jen Pawol then signaled "safe" when Toledo unsuccessfully tried to double up the Columbus baserunners at second and first, before Toledo threw to third base to appeal Clippers baserunner R3 Micah Pries, who took off for home plate and scored for leaving early.

HP Umpire Hammond, however, ruled the runner safe—that he left timely—and the inning appeared poised to continue with two out and runners at first and second...until the runner on second, Dom Nuñez took off for third and was easily tagged out by Toledo third baseman Buddy Kennedy, who still held the baseball from the appeal executed moments earlier.

Although replays do not conclusively indicate whether or not R3 Pries timely tagged at third, the runner's speed in touching home plate suggests he may have not. If any manager were to be upset with the umpires about the outcome of this play, it would be Toledo's Tim Federowicz, because Columbus scored a run it may not have been entitled to.

Instead, Federowicz's discussion with the umpires was fairly brief and it was Tracy who approached Hammond as the umpire and catcher Nuñez discussed the play at home plate prior to the next inning.

Hammond quickly ejected Tracy, who appeared to be unaware that umpire Velez had signaled the batter out on the catch.

In this case, Tracy's ignorance was not bliss. | Video as follows:

Jen Pawol Ejects Confused Coach After Conflicting Calls

Triple-A umpire Jen Pawol ejected Norfolk's manager and right fielder after she and 1B Umpire Kelvis Velez made conflicting calls on the same check swing play—Pawol as the home plate umpire ruling "swing" and Velez, mistaking her point at the batter as a point to him for an appeal, signaling the batter did not swing at the pitch.

With one out and a runner on second base, Norfolk Tides batter Peyton Burdick attempted to check his swing on a 2-2 fastball from Jacksonville pitcher Eli Villalobos. 

The circumstance of R2 and less than two out is important to note for this Triple-A game operating with a three-person umpire crew. In this situation, the 1B Umpire shall position themself within the infield, in front of second base (well, not directly in front of 2B, but still in the vicinity of Deep B/C), meaning there is no field umpire down the right field line anymore.

While the plate umpire assigning fair/foul responsibilities to right field in this crew configuation, the 1B Umpire retains check swing appeal responsibility for right-handed batters.

Accordingly, when Burdick tried checking his swing, HP Umpire Pawol pointed to the batter as part of a two-part "yes he did" mechanic to call the batter for a swinging strike.

1B Umpire Velez, however, saw Pawol pointing beyond the batter and near second base, where he was standing, and assumed Pawol had appealed the matter of Burdick's check swing to him (after all, the catcher requested an appeal by gesturing toward U1).

Thus, as Pawol completed her two-part mechanic ending with a fist, Velez signaled safe with outstretched arms, leading to confusion as two umpires had different calls for the same play.

Although the Official Baseball Rules do clearly state that the plate umpire has primary responsibility for all decisions on the batter—including half swings—which makes this Pawol's primary call, a more apropos response is found in OBR 8.03(c) pertaining to conflicting calls by multiple umpires: "If different decisions should be made on one play by different umpires, the umpire-in-chief shall call all the umpires into consultation, with no manager or player present. After consultation, the umpire-in-chief (unless another umpire may have been designated by the Office of the Commissioner) shall determine which decision shall prevail, based on which umpire was in best position and which decision was most likely correct. Play shall proceed as if only the final decision had been made."

With little doubt that the plate umpire's call of swinging strikeout would prevail (it was Pawol's call to begin with), that left one confused coach arguing to the point of ejection.

How to Avoid This Situation: The best way for a base umpire to avoid a situation where they might signal "safe" on a check swing where the plate umpire signals "out" is for the base umpire to pause momentarily. By waiting a beat, U1 would have been able to see the totality of UIC's swinging strike mechanic, and avoided ruling on a check swing appeal that was never indicated.

Exception: The one exception to this is an MLBUM interpretation known as "Voluntary Strike" in which the base umpire does signal on their own, with or without appeal, on an uncaught third strike, and only if they are going to rule the play a swinging strike.

Video as follows:

Pawol Donates Hat, Mask to Hall of Fame's Women Exhibit

Jen Pawol donated some of her umpiring gear to the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Diamond Dreams exhibit, which celebrates women in baseball, after the Hall put in a request to "keep that exhibit as fresh as possible to remind people that this is an ongoing story," according to Vice President of Exhibition and Collections Erik Strohl.

Pawol's hat and mask are going to the Hall.

Specifically, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will feature Pawol's mask and a hat from her time at MLB Umpire Camp. The headgear will join several items from Amanda Clement (the first woman paid to officiate men's games in the early 1900s), Bernice Gera (the first woman to umpire Minor League Baseball), Pam Postema (first to Triple-A), and Ria Cortesio (most recent, prior to Pawol) to honor umpires.

Pawol and Emma Charlesworth-Seiler are the only two women presently officiating in Minor League Baseball, and are the first such umpires since Cortesio's 2007 release. Both graduated from Vero Beach's MiLB Umpire Training Academy on scholarships from the MLB Umpire Camps program. Pawol recently completed her season in the Short-A New York-Penn League, while Charlesworth-Seiler worked the Rookie-level's Gulf Coast League.

Video as follows:

Jen Pawol Promoted to Single-A New York-Penn League

Jen Pawol's quest to become the first female MLB umpire took another step in the right direction this offseason as Pawol received a promotion from 2016's Gulf Coast League (Rookie) to 2017's New York-Penn League (Short-A).

The New York-Penn League is one of two Minor League Baseball's short-season Class-A leagues, the other being the Northwest League. Pawol is at the beginning of a minor league career that will require further progression through Class-A, A-Advanced, Double-A, Triple-A, MLB Call-Up/Fill-In status, and, finally, promotion to the Major Leagues.

Last season, Pawol became the first female umpire to work affiliated baseball in ten years, when Ria Cortesio's career concluded at the Double-A level.

Pam Postema (1977-89) was the last to reach Triple-A.

Pawol's GCL crewmate in 2016 was Scott Molloy, who himself, along with most minor league umpires, is trying to climb the development ladder to reach the big leagues. Molloy was promoted to Short-A's New York-Penn League in August 2016, where he officiated with umpire Matt Cowan, taking the place of Reed Basner, who himself was promoted to Class-A...

As one might surmise, there are a lot of moving parts and quite a few (hundred) umpires vying for a coveted shot at the show. Pawol's is but one of many journeys to be had along the road, most of which will end with release or retirement prior to the highest level.

GCL Ump Jen Pawol is 1st Female MiLB Umpire in 10 Yrs

Baseball hired Jen Pawol, MiLB's first female umpire in 10 years, assigning her to Florida's Gulf Coast League after a successful run at the MiLB Umpire Training Academy and Advanced Course (formerly PBUC Evaluation). She attended the program alongside another woman, Annie Monachello, who both received scholarships out of the MLB Umpire Camps program. These were the first two scholarships ever awarded to women for MiLB's professional umpire school in Florida.

Jen Pawol will make her debut 6/24.
Photo: FirstGiving/UMPS CARE.

The GCL tacitly and quietly confirmed Pawol's hire when the league updated its information guide for the 2016 season, listing Pawol amongst its staff of 14 umpires. Pawol is a USA Baseball Women's National Team alum, and previously played softball at Hofstra University.

Ria Cortesio (released from Double-A following the 2007 season) was the last female umpire in Minor League Baseball while Pam Postema was the last female umpire to reach AAA. Postema filed a gender discrimination lawsuit after her 1989 firing, which gained class action status after Theresa Fairlady's dismissal from Single-A and was settled out of court.

The complete list of women umpires in the Major/Minor League baseball system includes:
Bernice Gera (1972);
Christine Wren (1975-77);
Pam Postema (1977-89);
Theresa Cox Fairlady (1989-91);
Ria Cortesio (1999-2007);
Shanna Kook (2003-04).
Jen Pawol (2016-).

Other women in independent baseball have included Perry Barber (who herself has appeared on MLB Network) and Kate Sergeant. In 2008, the New York Mets and University of Michigan played a scholastic exhibition game officiated by the all-female umpiring crew of Barber, Fairlady, Mona Osborne, and Ila Valcarcel.

The Binghamton, New York-based Pawol holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Hunter College, working as a freelance photographer for clients including Referee Magazine, and has served as SUNYAC Regional Coordinator of umpires. She began her officiating career in 2006 and umpired at the NCAA Division 1 Level through 2015, with Big 10 Conference credits since 2013.

The Gulf Coast League is a Rookie League in Minor League Baseball whose season begins June 24.