A knuckleballer, a minor league team, a foreigner, a woman. Go Eri!

[Stinky The Clown]

18 years old, five-foot-nothing, sidearm knuckleballs.

The only woman currently playing pro baseball in the US.

He name is Eri Yoshida. She plays for the Outlaws, Chico California's Golden Baseball (Minor) League team.

I'm very impressed.



>snip<
League of Her Own: Baseball's Teen Knuckleballer
Japanese 18-Year-Old Eri Yoshida Baffles Hitters with Her Knuckleball

(CBS) On the mound for the Chico California Outlaws knuckleball pitcher Eri Yoshida has already made baseball history. CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reports Yoshida is the only woman now playing professional baseball against men.

General manager Mike Marshall says she fits in well, "you don't notice that she's five-foot-nothing, 120 pounds."

In the dugout she seems to be just one of the guys. But the 18-year-old who arrived from Japan just a few months ago is crossing barriers of culture, gender, tradition -- and language, still struggling to learn English. But baseball comes easy.

Though other players tower over her, on the mound the knuckleball is a big equalizer.

"I thought maybe this is the way that I can compete with men," Yoshida said. "If I can master it."

UC Berkeley's Bob Jacobsen says it's all a matter of physics. A well-pitched knuckleball doesn't spin. With no spin just air friction on the seams changes the ball's movement unpredictably.

"Half an inch is more than enough to ruin the batter's day," Jacobsen said.

>snip<

More here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/15/eveningnews/main6682333.shtml

[Stinky The Clown]

1. I dunno ..... just pure "feel good" here.

[flvegan]

2. I'd love to see her make the bigs.

The knuckleball could be the great equalizer for a woman (and I don't mean to demean women, just being realistic) to break into a sport like MLB.

Though she might want to stick to an American League team. No idea about her batting.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. You're right about it being an equalizer.

Plus she's a sidearmer. If she can get to the bigs she absolutely could be an effective pitcher. Knuckling is all about skill and precision, not about speed and power.

You're also right about batting. She's tiny. She'd have to use a 28" Little League bat just to keep from falling over. :)