— Pam Postema wasn’t the first female umpire to take a shot at getting into Major League Baseball, but she was the one who came closest. Like Bernice Gera and Chris Wren before her, Postema faced adversity while trying to gain acceptance as a minor league umpire. When we ran our story on Postema, she was in her third year of Triple-A ball and looked like she might have a legitimate shot at the majors. No female umpire before her had gone past Single-A. The story of her desire to become the majors’ first female umpire garnered her national attention, but after a total of seven years in Triple-A and a few major league spring training games, Postema was released in 1988. She received even more notoriety from the sexual discrimination lawsuit she filed against the AL and NL in 1990, which was settled out of court in 1997 for an undisclosed amount. No female since Postema has made it as far in baseball umpiring, but her legacy undoubtedly helped pave the way for the acceptance of female officials in the NBA and Major League Soccer.
