PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA Feb. 26, 2008 - The four umpires met at home plate before the game, took a quick group photo and bumped fists for good luck. Then they jogged to their positions, ponytails flapping all the way.
Four female umpires, working Tuesday’s New York Mets’ exhibition opener against the University of Michigan, may have contributed to the most obscure Major League Baseball history ever made.
The unique crew consisted of Perry Barber calling balls and strikes at home plate, Mona Osborne at first base, Theresa Fairlady at second base and Ila Valcarcel, a Girl Scout leader from Pine Island, at third base.
Fairlady reached the Double-A level in the late 1980s and Barber and Valcarcel went to the Harry Wendelstedt umpiring school in 2005 and work college games. Barber, who lives in New York and Clearwater and has helped find spring-training umpires for the Mets for 25 years. Osborne is a former college umpire.
Female umpires are rare, but not unheard of, since they legally won the right to participate in professional baseball in 1972. No woman has ever worked a regular-season major-league game, but last March, Ria Cortesio became the first woman in 18 years to umpire an exhibition game.
What’s it really like for the gals calling the game?
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