Pam Postema is a baseball umpire most notable for being the first female to ever officiate a Major League Baseball spring training game. For her unique contributions to the game, she was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary Shrine of the Eternals in 2000. Postema first applied to what is now the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School, in 1976, and after rejecting her twice, the school admitted her. In 1977, Postema received an offer for a job in the rookie Gulf Coast League. She spent two years there, after which she had two-year stints in both single-A and double-A, becoming the first female to umpire at those levels, before being promoted to triple-A baseball in the Pacific Coast League. During her six years at the AAA level, Postema was looked highly upon by many players, although other players objected to the notion of a female umpire. Although often considered a prospect for major league umpiring, Pam Postema never received the call until 1988, when Baseball Commissioner Bart Giamatti offered her a contract to officiate at the MLB level during spring training. 

1954 in