I’ve blogged before about Eri Yoshida, the 18-year-old female knuckleball pitcher from Japan. Last week, she made her Meet American debut as a professional baseball player.
With the spotlight of the media from both sides of the Pacific, Yoshida made her debut with the independent Chico Outlaws on Saturday night, becoming the first woman to pitch in a professional league in the U.S. since Ila Borders in 2000.
It didn’t go that well, although you would never have known that by the throng of adoring fans cheering and begging for her autograph after the game.
Facing a Tijuana Cimarrones lineup that included three former major leaguers, Yoshida gave up four runs in three innings. 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. Her highlight was that she actually got an RBI single in her only trip to the plate.
“I’m sure she was nervous,” said Tijuana’s Kit Pellow, who played briefly in the majors with Colorado and Kansas City. “If she throws more strikes, she’ll get more outs. The thing is, her fastball and slider are so slow, there is no surprise factor. With other knuckleball pitchers, they’ll zip in an 80 mph fastball and it looks like it’s 100. Well, she doesn’t have that. She needs to throw strikes with that knuckleball or she’s going to get in trouble.”
Consider that a lesson learned. Just 5-foot-1, 115 pounds, Yoshida faced reporters from about 30 media outlets from around the world after the game. She was smiling about the “unbelievable” experience, but disappointed in the results. “The Knuckle Princess,” as she’s been dubbed, rated her performance “20 out of 100.”
When asked what she’d say to Tim Wakefield, who was her role model when she began throwing the knuckler, Yoshida said: “I realize how hard it is to throw a good knuckleball, so I have more respect for him.”
There’s a distinct lack of knuckleball pitchers at the pro level, so like many baseball fans I’m rooting for her. Not that I expect her to make it to the majors, but she could blaze a trail for someone else. Imagine a 6-foot-1 female knuckleballer who could hit 80 or more on the radar gun with a fastball, for instance. If it does happen some day, she’ll owe a debt to Eri Yoshida. Thanks to Justin for the link.
Charlie, I had the privilege to cover her debut. For video features checkout http://www.ComingToAmericaBaseball.com She works harder than anyone on her team, and I think the potential exists for a minor league deal.
Phil