THE JAPANESE ARE NOT AFRAID TO BREAK THE MOLD TO FIND NEW PITCHING TALENT
Note: The young lady pictured above is not the girl referenced in the story.
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http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/postedsports/archive/2008/11/17/baseball-japanese-girl-selected-to-play-in-professional-men-s-league.aspx
A 16-year-old schoolgirl with a mean knuckleball has been selected as the first woman ever to play alongside the men in Japanese professional baseball.
Eri Yoshida was drafted for a new independent league that will launch in April, drawing attention for a side-armed knuckler that her future manager Yoshihiro Nakata said was a marvel.
"I never dreamed of getting drafted," Yoshida told reporters Monday, a day after she was selected to play for the Kobe 9 Cruise.
"I have only just been picked by the team and have not achieved anything," she said. "I want to play as a pro eventually in a higher league."
Yoshida, 5-foot-0 tall and weighing 114 pounds, says she wants to follow in the footsteps of the great Boston Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.
A female professional baseball federation existed for a few years in the 1950s, but Yoshida will become Japan's first-ever woman to play alongside professional male players.
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I have always thought that this would likely be the fastest route for the first woman to play professionally in the "major" American sports at the highest level.
In football, other than as a kicker who was very accurate from 40 and under, I don't see a woman who could crack an NFL roster in my lifetime.
In basketball, maybe a crack three-point shooter--a la Steve Kerr--could be a possibility as the first woman NBA player.
In baseball, a woman pitcher with a killer knuckle ball or a splitter could pitch effectively at any level. I don't see any major league caliber hitters on the horizon anytime soon. Which is fair, because I don't see any major league hitters capable of hitting Jennie Finch.
絵里の3つの歓声!!!!!
which means, three cheers for Eri, according to Google translation.
ERI YOSHIDA - DRAFTED BY JAPANESE MENS LEAGUE
2 comments:
Some YouTube Vids: One - Two - Three
No real good angles for the few thrown pitches in any of them. To see the movement of a knuckleball well, there needs to be a camera stuck onto the plate umpire's mask. It cannot be appreciated unless one sees what looks to be fat change-up butterfly away from the swinging bat. The first video has the best angles. The third video shows a small room with a net it looks like she throws into, plus some wall plaster damage caused by a bat swinging.
Here's three more vids found. The first two have some decent angles shots of the ball knuckling, plus Yoshida showing off her knuckleball and what looks like the curveball grips. The third one was found just poking around and is about a pitcher named Nishimoto, who has one of the craziest pitching arm rotations I've ever seen. This kid is going to need arm surgery if he isn't careful.
One - Two - Three
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