Japanese indy league drafts female knuckleballer

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Eri Yoshida meets Tim Wakefield for the first time!

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/news/story?id=4961259

[captlid]

Looks like she's having fun. Not too often you see a pitcher so much shorter than their catcher.

[Imgran]

She's coming to America to pitch in the Golden League. This is significant because big league clubs scout that league looking for prospects.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

She's only 18, if the pitch is any good a big league scout will see it and be able to tell.

[Cubsfan97]

Im pulling for her, would be very interesting to see. Has she faced an major leaguers?

[Sonny Schmidt]

Come on guy's, this talk of women competing against men is just that -- all talk.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Yosida was signed by the Chico Outlaws. Chico's only a few hours north of here. I may just go up there and catch a few games.

[Sonny Schmidt]

Of course, I celebrate her success so far! I think reaching this level is just an indicator of things to come for women in pro baseball.

I agree that initially, we may find ourselves in "specialist" roles in men's baseball, but as we progress (development over the years with expanded opportunities), I think we will be capable of mainstream play with men, not just at the Indy level, but in MLB.

Given that the MSBL/MABL is amateur ball and that the level of play is significantly less than that of MLB, but also recognizing that many of the players at the MSBL World Series are former pro (AAA, AA, A, Indy) and former D-1, D-2, D-3 and NAIA college ball players, I can safely say that women can respond well to the higher level of play. Just like guys, we rise to the occasion. A perfect example would be my recently playing in the MSBL World Series in Phoenix. At home, in the MSBL league (where I'm the only female player at present) we play wood bat in the 35+ and one game metal, one wood in the 18+. Pitching can be pretty good, or at times, awful. Skill levels can vary, but are generally solid. At Phoenix, most everyone is in the tops of their leagues...they're basically (but not always) a type of league all-star team, usually built around one or two teams from the league.

Now, my point... I had little problem adapting to the level of play in the wood bat Central division (no ex-pros allowed), but when I hit the metal Continental/Mountain division (tops for the 35+), I had a rude awakening... those ex-pros and former college players, metal bats in hand, DRIVE that ball! Being a third baseman, I got the pleasure of seeing several of those screamers up close and personal...some being hit by guys with biceps the size of my thighs... but, and here's the point...although they were coming at me significantly harder, I adapted. By the end of the tournament, they were "normal" for me... and amazingly, the only error I made for the two weeks was a slow chopper that I got my hand into the glove a little too soon and bobbled the transfer trying to rush the throw. If I can adapt, I know others can too. And yes, it's NOT MLB or even Indy ball...it's the MSBL, but the concepts are the same...it's only the level, experience, and training that are different. Oh...and I hit .400 (6 for 15) in week 2, with 1 double, 5 singles, 1BB, 2 K's. Again...if I can do it, so can other women! : )

A side note:

Women who are reading this: Put your names on the MSBL and NABA Player pool lists. Break in...play in the men's tournaments and world series when you can, and when there is no women's ball to play. It has helped me to improve my game, and I'm sure it will help you if you have thick skin. You will be an oddity on the field; you'll get lots of double-takes; you'll get lots of questions; you'll get some encouragement and lots of derision. The main thing is to hang in there, adapt, and show you can hold your own. In the end, if you're called a "good ballplayer" that's the highest compliment the guys can give you.

A special thanks to all the great guys on the Houston A'z and Sacramento Pirates who gave me a shot this year in Phoenix... and especially to Ronny Stegall and Bobby Brown who both had the guts to ask me to join them on their teams. All of you guys were great and I'll look forward to playing with (and maybe against) you in the future!

From the time I have entered this site, all I have ever heard from you is self-bolstering. I highly doubt you would match a Professional player both athletically, and skillfully. Here's a chance to let yourself shine with the big boys: Why don't you post a video of yourself performing practise drills -- baserunning, fielding, etc. Then we can judge if your skill levels are what you say they're?

The facts being:

A) No video will be posted

B) You'll look only like an average ballplayer.

[captlid]

Actually...I think I'd make the case for women with good arms to play 3B in the MLB...where it's more reaction than having to cover territory. Or for the tall girls, at 1B.

Firstbasemen are expected to hit the ever loving crap out of the ball. Do tell what female out there can do that with a wooden bat against a 90-95mph pitch consistently? I'd love to see bustos try.
Three years ago I have seen some of my teammates whack a few baseballs with wood [against much slower pitching though] to the warning track at a rather large minor league stadium called Keyspan park.

[Sonny Schmidt]

Firstbasemen are expected to hit the ever loving crap out of the ball. Do tell what female out there can do that with a wooden bat against a 90-95mph pitch consistently? I'd love to see bustos try.
Three years ago I have seen some of my teammates whack a few baseballs with wood [against much slower pitching though] to the warning track at a rather large minor league stadium called Keyspan park.

No girl hits home runs on a decent size field using a wooden bat.

[beisbolfiebre]

Chico Outlaws baseball can be seen LIVE on justin.tv where we have a very polite chat room discussion during each game (it's on at the present moment as I'm writing).

Eri Yoshida is going to pitch again on June 12. I watched her first game and she pitched 3 innings. She got a single in her only at bat. Let's hope she does very well.

[stlcardinals23]

What times do most of their games start?

[tg643]

She's coming to America to pitch in the Golden League. This is significant because big league clubs scout that league looking for prospects.

There aren't expectations this women signs with an affiliated team. Indy teams will do anything for publicity. Most struggle for attendance. It's why buying an Indy team is a bad investment. If a circus geek could throw strikes he would be signed by an Indy team and they would have Circus Geek Night.

Here's the problem ...

After a scoreless first, the Tijuana hitters discovered that her sidearm knuckleball wasn't knuckling that much, so they simply waited for some of her 65-mph fastballs and they whacked them.

Every Little League has pitchers who throw 65 or harder.

From the same article ...

Is it a gimmick? Of course it is. Whether or not Marshall would admit it, there is no doubt that the Outlaws and the Golden League are getting more attention than they have had in years because of Yoshida. Nettleton Stadium, on the campus of Cal State Chico, was filled nearly to its capacity of 4,000 for Yoshida's debut. That's about double a normal crowd. Many of them were wearing Outlaws shirts with "Yoshida" over her No. 3 on the back.

Reporters representing media outlets from across the U.S. and Japan descended upon this remote college town (population 60,000) halfway between San Francisco and the Oregon border.

[beisbolfiebre]

http://www.goldenbaseball.com/chico/

most of the games start @ 6:30 or 7:00 PCT

Eri pitched last week & lasted 4 innings. She did quite well.

[SABRSusan]

http://www.goldenbaseball.com/chico/

most of the games start @ 6:30 or 7:00 PCT

Eri pitched last week & lasted 4 innings. She did quite well.

She also got a hit.

[Joltin' Joe]

She also got a hit.

Yeah a clean single too. Impressive!

It's really amazing that a 5ft woman can successfully compete in a position where height is quite important.

[SABRSusan]

Yeah a clean single too. Impressive!

It's really amazing that a 5ft woman can successfully compete in a position where height is quite important.

Yes, it is. But there are some fine pitchers out there who aren't huge guys. Pedro Martinez is only 5' 10". Tim Lincecum and Bartolo Colon are 5' 11". Depending on who talk to, Billy Wagner is anywhere from 5' 8" to 5' 11" (seeing him in person vs. "official" height). I've been doing some reading on this for something I'm writing. A couple good articles.
NYTimes article on Wagner.
Reading this one from Hardbal Times makes me think Yoshida should eat more sandwiches and
milkshakes

I think what impressives me most about Yoshida is that fact that she's primarily self-taught. When she somewhat famously met Tim Wakefield a couple months ago, it was apparently the first time she'd received genuine coaching on throwing the knuckler--everything else she learned from watching videos of him. That's pretty darn cool.

[tg643]

But there are some fine pitchers out there who aren't huge guys. Pedro Martinez is only 5' 10". Tim Lincecum and Bartolo Colon are 5' 11". Depending on who talk to, Billy Wagner is anywhere from 5' 8" to 5' 11" (seeing him in person vs. "official" height).

These guys all came up throwing major heat. Their height was irrelevant. 5' isn't close to 5'10". 65mph isn't major heat even in Little League. Any of you who believe this woman is on her way to MLB are dreaming. Almost all Indy baseball players who think they are on their way to MLB are dreaming. Some are fortunate to be short term roster fillers on affilated minor league teams when injuries occur.

[Imgran]

Yeah, I mean it's absolutely, positively impossible to survive in the big leagues if you don't throw hard.

[Joltin' Joe]

Yes, it is. But there are some fine pitchers out there who aren't huge guys. Pedro Martinez is only 5' 10".

Pedro Martinez is an absolute freak of nature. And regardless of what he is listed at, he is more like 5'8" on a good day. He however has very very long fingers which most definitely contributed to his immense success.

That being said, height in general is an advantage in pitching.

[tg643]

Pedro Martinez is an absolute freak of nature. And regardless of what he is listed at, he is more like 5'8" on a good day. He however has very very long fingers which most definitely contributed to his immense success.

That being said, height in general is an advantage in pitching.

About 80% of MLB pitchers are 6'1" or taller. Typically .... longer stride, longer arms, more velocity.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Yoshida is absolutely getting pounded in the Golden Baseball League.

7 GS, 22 IP, 0-3 W-L, 12.68 ERA, 31 ER, 4 K, 17 BB, 30 H

[Iowanic]

Well, she's ready to join the cubs then. Hopefully, we can efford her...