November 19, 2008

16-Year-Old Girl Signed For New Japanese League; Inspired By Wakefield To Throw Knuckleball

Eri Yoshida is a 16-year-old Japanese girl. She's five feet tall and weighs 114 pounds. And she throws a sidearm knuckleball.

Yoshida was drafted in the seventh round on Monday by the Kobe 9 Cruise team in the independent Japanese League, which opens its first season in April.

Yoshida has been playing baseball since the second grade. She says she began throwing the knuckler after her father showed her a video of Tim Wakefield.

AP:
Yoshida took part in a tryout held earlier this month and passed with flying colors. The right-hander held male batters hitless for one inning in the tryout and her successful outing helped her become one of the 33 players picked in the draft.

3 comments:

laura k said...

Very cool!! If you see anything else on her, please post follow-ups!

Rob said...

According to the two trade rumor blogs I follow, Rotoworld.com and MLB Trade Rumors, both relaying a report from Sports Radio 810 WHB, in Kansas City, reporting the Red Sox have traded Coco Crisp for a reliver, Ramon Ramirez.

Interesting. Nothing from the Boston papers suggest anything. Nothing nationally. Just the radio station in KC. We'll see.

Unknown said...

That is super-awesome. I hope she makes it to the Japanese majors and eventually to the US majors. Will the Red Sox have the first Japanese female knuckleballer? Only time will tell.