Female knuckleballer Eri Yoshida, 18, was signed to a minor league baseball contract with the Chico (Calif.) Outlaws late last week.
The 5' 2' phenom features a sidearm delivery and credits Tim Wakefield of the Boston Red Sox with inspiring her to master the art of the knuckleball. Wakefield met with Yoshida last month during the team's Spring Training in Florida and even offered the aspiring big leaguer a few pointers.
In an interview with USA Today, Yoshida appeared very excited to take the next step in her career. "I am grateful for this opportunity," Yoshida said. "This is a dream come true for me and I hope I can contribute to the team and help them win and also to continue to improve as a pro baseball player."
The Outlaws are part of the independent 10-team Golden Baseball League, a league that has turned out some of the biggest names in baseball, including Alex Arias, Rickey Henderson and Jose Canseco. They will compete throughout the Western part of the US, Canada and Mexico.
Yoshida will be the first female to pitch for a semi-pro squad in the US since IIa Borders pitched over a decade ago for the St. George Pioneerzz (Utah). Borders competed in the Northern League from 1997-2000 for 4 different teams before retiring in 2000.
To date, there has never been a woman included on any of the 30 major league baseball team rosters. However, back in the 1930s, Jackie Mitchell, 17, from the Chattanooga Lookouts reportedly struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game.
Prior to playing in the US, Eri pitched in Japan for the Kobe Cruise 9, where she went 0-2 with a 4.03 ERA in 11 appearances.
Yoshida is expected to report to the Outlaws training facility in May.
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