WOOOH! That is my dream job!

I remember when Pam Postema umped in 1989. I was 10 and determined to be a major-league baseball player. I was surprised and annoyed that it was the first time a woman had even gotten to be on the field, since I was sure by the time I was old enough to go pro I wouldn't be the first female player. I was such an optimist . . .

oh, and GO RIA CORTESIO! :)

Yay! As a dedicated WNBA fan, I love it when women make inroads in dickheaded sports culture. Whenever I speak up about WNBA games, players or whatnot, online or in-person with men, I *always* hear bullshit about how sucky women are in sports. Online, when men speak of women athletes, particularly WNBA players, they talk only of their looks and which of their friends they'd condemn to fuck her. Of course not all men are like that; online, there's usually one telling the rest of them, "hey guys, I know it's not NBA play but the games are still entertaining." Sigh. They're riveting, mofo!

Heavy metal salutes to Ria Cortesio and any/every other athlete out there, doing her thing amid such nonsense.

That is awesome! Here's hoping that many other women join her.

Umpires get a lot of crap for the calls they make. I'm sure she will be getting it a lot worse, because of whole being a women thing. You know the whole girls don't know anything about sports thing... Good luck Ria and prove them wrong.

That's just what I was thinking. When she makes a bad or unpopular call (which I think all umps do at some point), how many times is it going to be mentioned that she is a *female* umpire?

Another pioneer in major league baseball is Kim Ng, assistant general manager (GM) for the LA Dodgers. A baseball GM is basically the "brains" behind the team, deciding what players to sign, who to trade, what manager to hire, etc. Kim was the youngest Assistant GM in baseball when she was first hired in 1997 and was the first woman to be interviewed for a top GM job -- the Dodgers ended up hiring someone else. I think it's only a matter of time before she's in charge of a baseball team.

And she'll be umping my Cubbies too! I love it when my loves come together. Now hopefully she gets all our calls right.

Woman ump + Cubs = Happy Roni

hey fellow baseball fans, if you haven't already, start up your fantasy baseball team (unless you're female, in which case, you'd probably be more interested in gossiping about general hospital... according to this asshat anyway (sorry, I'm lame with html tags): http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/67344/females-hate-fantasy

How exciting!

FABULOUS! I have been following Ria's career for years and I am so excited to see her make it to the majors, even if it is only an exhibition game. I've often thought that being an ump would be an awesome second career -- someday I hope to follow in her footsteps!!!! Go Ria!

this is great news, but it's also very depressing that it has taken this long to get a female umpire.

I'm So excited for a female Ump.! I absolutly love Major League Baseball. I am a dedicated Detroit Tigers fan and I would love to go into Cubbie territory just to see her. It's sad that its just a exhibition game, but it's a step in the right direction. If we cant play with men, we sure as hell can boss 'em around!