Usuario:SRuizR/Taller/Pam Postema

Pam Postema (Nacida en Abril de 1954 en Willard (Ohio))​ fue la primera mujer en arbitrar un juego de entrenamiento de primavera de las Grandes Ligas de Béisbol. Por sus contribuciones únicas al juego, fue instalada en el Relicario de Beisbol Shrine of the Eternals en el 2000.​

Educación

Postema aplicó primero en la Escuela de Ampáyers de Al Somers en Florida (Ahora la Escuela de Ampáyers de Harry Wendelstedt​) en 1976. Envió tres solicitudes antes de que finalmente fuera inscrita. Su clase era originalmente 130 pero para el final de la trigésima temporada la había dejado o le habían dicho que se fuera. Pam, a pesar de lograrlo y graduarse de décima séptima en su clase, luchó por encontrar trabajo durante tres meses después de su graduación.​

Early career

En 1977, Postema recibió una oferta de trabajo en la Liga de la Costa del Golfo. Estuvo ahí dos años, after which she had two-year stints in both Class A and Double-A, becoming the first woman to umpire at those levels, before being promoted to Triple-A baseball in the Pacific Coast League. During her six years at the Triple-A level, Postema was looked highly upon by many players, although other players objected to the notion of a female umpire.​

Postema was involved in an unusual incident during a May 30, 1984, game between the Portland Beavers and Vancouver Canadians. Beavers manager Lee Elia was ejected for arguing a called third strike, and subsequently threw a chair onto the field before leaving the dugout. Postema then directed the team's batboy to retrieve the chair from the field. Acting on instructions from Beavers players in the dugout, he refused, resulting in Postema ejecting the batboy.​

MLB career

Although often considered a prospect for major league umpiring, Pam Postema never received the call until in 1988, when Baseball Commissioner Bart Giamatti offered her a contract to officiate at the MLB level during spring training. Later that year, Giamatti also offered her a chance to umpire at the "Hall of Fame Game" between the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves. Both opportunities looked promising, and she hoped to gain a contract into the major league. Unfortunately, Giamatti died soon thereafter in 1989, and Postema never again got the chance to umpire in the major leagues. In December 1989, the Triple-A Alliance cancelled Postema's contract after 13 years of well-regarded experience in the minor leagues. She then filed a sex-discrimination lawsuit at the federal level. She stated, "I believe I belong in the major leagues. If it weren't for the fact that I'm a woman, I would be there right now."​

After baseball

In 1992, Postema published a book entitled You've Gotta Have Balls to Make It In This League. Following her umpiring career, she worked as a trucker, a factory worker,​ and later a welder, but quit in order to take care of her father, who was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.​ On March 29, 2007, Ria Cortesio became the second female umpire to work a Major League spring training game.

External links

• "Against All Odds" article in Referee magazine
• Baseball Reliquary Tribute

{{DEFAULTSORT:Postema, Pam}} [[Category:Minor league baseball umpires]] [[Category:1954 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Willard, Ohio]]