Eri Yoshida, Female Knuckleball Pitcher, Attracts Pro Interest, Meets With Tim Wakefield (VIDEO)

It's been said Eri Yoshida grew up watching videos of Tim Wakefield's knuckleball to perfect her craft, and now she may be headed to the men's pro leagues.

Yoshida, an 18-year-old knuckleball professional pitcher from Japan, has been extended an offer to play for the Chico Outlaws of the Independent Golden Baseball League, the Japan Times reports.

She could be the first Japanese woman to play professional baseball in a men's league in the United States, according to the report.

Yoshida came to Florida this week to finally meet Wakefield.

"I never thought I could ever feel this happy," Yoshida said of the meeting.

Some are already asking if Eri Yoshida could be the next Tim Wakefield.

WATCH ERI YOSHIDA THROW HER KNUCKLEBALL:

Comments

[mike3050]

04:00 PM on 04/15/2010

"It's an honor to have somebody carry on a knuckleball tradition," he said. "And somebody that's doing it because she likes what I do. It's pretty cool to have someone come over to the States from Japan. I heard about her last year. I know she's pitching in independent leagues now. But for her to come all the way to Fort Myers and watch me throw, it was an honor for me to just talk to her and give her some tips."
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[EminemsRevenge]

01:14 PM on 03/06/2010

Maybe if she can learn to throw a football she'll be able to get a QB job with the Jets!

[sheoples]

05:45 AM on 03/05/2010

giggity giggity alright

[robertjordan]

10:00 PM on 03/04/2010

possible she could do well with good pitch selection and control. But the real skill will be her ability to get out of the way of a line drive coming back. the best athletes on any team are the pitchers not because throwing the ball is hard (it is very) but keeping one's head attached to one's shoulders is much more difficult. As an example a man in his 40's nekro always as part of his follow through was in proper postion to make a play on the ball and defend himself in case of a hot liner.w/r robert

[TexanInMississippi]

02:13 PM on 03/04/2010

Awesome and good luck!

[fuzzynormal]

01:10 PM on 03/04/2010

Wow, this truly is the ideal path for a female to succeed in a man's sport. A Knuckleballer is the most awesome skill to have as it's relatively easy athletically.

Male pitchers that do this can stretch their careers into their 50's because it's pretty low-impact.

I wish I would have leaned how to do this when I was 13!

Good luck to her.

[Travis bdboy]

11:20 AM on 03/04/2010

Put away your pistols guys...or is it your gun you're playing with

[305Rider]

05:53 PM on 03/03/2010

Might have to keep an eye on this girl's career.

[booboo111]

07:39 PM on 03/03/2010

She might want to add a moonball to her repertoire. No one's thrown that lately.

[O K Ali]

05:39 PM on 03/03/2010

This story is kind of dated. I would like to see her pitching stateside though.

[jl4141]

01:32 PM on 03/03/2010

As long as she is in a DH league, why not?

[cmaurand]

01:38 PM on 03/03/2010

Just because she's a girl doesn't mean she can't hit a ball traveling at 100 mph. Women softball players do it all the time and they're pitching from 40 feet, not 60.

[RobinSeattle]

02:49 PM on 03/03/2010

The main problem is that women don't usually have much upper body strength. Remember the Colorado Silver Bullets? Despite using aluminum bats, iirc, not one ever hit a homer and the lack of arm strength made it easy to run on their outfielders. So even if Eri-chan hits the ball solidly, it probably won't go anywhere. Maybe she can have Rod Carew teach her how to drag bunts.

As for college softball players, again, aluminum bats with 250 foot fences. That distance is about what you find in most Little League parks for 12 year olds.

[Travis bdboy]

11:22 AM on 03/04/2010

She'll have to watch a lot of balls coming her way

[kimmer05]

12:54 PM on 03/03/2010

You go girl!!!

[Bigrcube]

12:41 PM on 03/03/2010

FIRST, let's see if this 18-yr-old *rookie* can get Japanese professional hitters out. Then MAYBE we can start talking about the Major League's minor leagues.

[RobinSeattle]

02:44 PM on 03/03/2010

Did and did, dude. She pitched against men in an independent pro league in Japan and she also pitched in the Arizona Winter League this past year.

Her main problem is, like it often is with all knuckleball pitchers, consistency in throwing strikes. Her balance is an issue, as she often finishes with her weight on her back side, which causes her to leave the ball up with not much movement or it tails into the hitter. These are treatable issues, but it will still take time for her to develop real command.

Of course, if she can't throw strikes with the knuckler, she will either have to come in with a fastball (so I recommend she learns to throw a sinker) that won't have much on it or develop some secondary pitch like a slider or palm ball.

[ECB]

12:20 PM on 03/03/2010

Best of luck to you, this is really cool.

[Puller58]

12:09 PM on 03/03/2010

Never thought about a woman being able to pitch in the bigs, but the idea of a knuckleballer is interesting. US pitchers like the Niekro brothers, Charlie Hough and of course Wakefield show that success and longevity are possible with the old knuckler. I wish the young lady luck.

[jeremyemilio]

01:37 PM on 03/03/2010

Yep. Can't say much about this particular case, but a female knuckleballer pitching in the pros is certainly an intriguing idea and a realistic enough formula.