Japanese baseball has girl knuckleballer

When the punters on TVG stop talking about racehorses long enough to mention baseball, you know it’s a big story.   Late last night, in the middle of coverage of the Japan mile championship at Kyoto, the guys expressed their amazement over Eri Yoshida, a 16-year-old high-school student who has just become the first female player to be drafted for professional baseball in Japan.  She’s a pitcher yet.  And she throws a killer knuckleball. 

During the tryouts, Eri pitched a hitless inning that impressed the hell out of everybody — especially since she’s only five feet tall and weighs 114 pounds dripping wet.  She was snapped up by the Kobe 9 Cruise, one of the teams in a new  Japanese league.  

Only in Japan, right?  If a girl ballplayer tried to get herself drafted for men’s pro ball here in the U.S., the whole country would go into meltdown.  – Patricia Nell Warren

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