Friday, May 28, 2010
Jason Halley / AP
Japanese pitcher Eri Yoshida, who taught herself to throw a knuckler, has impressed her Chico Outlaws teammates with her work ethic.
The Chico Outlaws have dubbed their new pitcher "The Knuckle Princess." It's safe to say no other player in pro baseball history has worn that tag.
On Saturday night in Chico against the Tijuana Cimarrones, Eri Yoshida is scheduled to become the first female to play pro baseball in the United States since Ila Borders pitched in the Northern League in the late '90s.
Yoshida, 18, recently graduated from high school in Yokohama, Japan. She taught herself to throw a knuckleball after watching videos of Boston's Tim Wakefield. She posted a 4.03 ERA in 10 2/3 innings in a Japanese independent league last year.
Mike Marshall, a former Dodgers outfielder who is president and general manager of the Outlaws, was Yoshida's manager with the Yuma Scorpions in the Arizona Winter League. He was impressed by her performance there (1-1, with a 4.79 ERA in 10 games) and invited her to join the Outlaws.
The Outlaws have six former major-league players and play in the independent Golden Baseball League, a far-flung outfit that includes teams in Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. It was the last refuge of Rickey Henderson and Jose Canseco.
Second baseman Bobby Hill, a San Jose native, said that Yoshida is "like a little sister to everybody on the team" and that he has been impressed with her work ethic. "I don't think it's a publicity stunt for the Outlaws to bring her in," he said.
The GBL doesn't have the designated-hitter rule, so the 5-foot-2, 115-pound Yoshida will also be hitting.
The 7 p.m. game will be streamed on justin.tv/chicooutlawsbaseball.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/27/SPOI1DLON6.DTL#ixzz0pSWJH4Fv
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