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  • fuckedgaijin ‹ General ‹ F*cked News ‹ Sports

First Female Pro Baseball Player To Debut

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First Female Pro Baseball Player To Debut

Postby Mulboyne » Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:04 am

[floatl]Image[/floatl]Kyodo: High school student to become 1st female pro baseball player
High school student Eri Yoshida was drafted by an independent league team Sunday, opening the way for her to become the first woman to play professional baseball alongside male players in Japan. The 16-year-old Yoshida, who attends Kawasaki Kita high school in Kanagawa Prefecture, was picked by the Kobe 9 Cruise in the seventh round of the amateur draft held by the teams joining the Kansai independent league to be inaugurated next April. With a side-armed knuckleball in the core of her arsenal of pitches, Yoshida took part in a tryout held earlier this month and passed with flying colors. The right-hander held male batters hitless for one inning in the final tryout and her successful outing helped her become one of the 33 players picked in the draft...more...
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Postby Charles » Mon Nov 17, 2008 1:36 pm

This story needs to name and shame the team of guys she struck out.
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Postby Kanchou » Mon Nov 17, 2008 3:11 pm

That's pretty impressive... especially for a girl her age.

But is she holding a softball or is she just tiny?
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Soccer

Postby Netherlander » Mon Nov 17, 2008 7:03 pm

I am not surprised.
I don't know much about baseball. However a do know a thing or two about soccer. And let me tell you, I think some arrogant J2 players get paid far too much. I think J2 level teams should get some of the 2007 women's world cup players. I wouldn't be surprised if they kicked some ass!

Check out this video!
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Postby Osakadave » Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:32 am

Kanchou wrote:That's pretty impressive... especially for a girl her age.

But is she holding a softball or is she just tiny?


She is pretty small (5 feet according to this article), but it looks more to be the positioning of that photo.
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Postby prolly » Wed Nov 19, 2008 5:21 am

Can we talk about the team name, Kobe 9 Cruise. wtf?
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Postby Mulboyne » Mon Dec 29, 2008 10:19 pm

The Kobe Sogo store will be selling a New Year "lucky bag" where one of the prizes will be the chance to play catch with "Knucle Eri". In case some pervy foreigner is thinking of trying to win it, you should know that the sale of the bags will be limited to elementary schoolkids.
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Postby GuyJean » Mon Dec 29, 2008 10:54 pm

She throws a 'side-arm knuckle ball'? Is that Japanese for under-arm softball pitch? :p

Nah, it's cool.. But I'd like to see her in action before I make any judgments.

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Postby Taro Toporific » Sat Mar 28, 2009 1:19 am

Japanese schoolgirl, 17, Ks 1 in pro baseball debut
March 27, 2009, 10:41 AM EST
OSAKA, Japan (AP) -
Japan's first female professional baseball player made her debut Friday, striking out one batter in the ninth inning of her team's first game of the season.
Eri Yoshida, a 17-year-old who throws a sidearm knuckleball, took the mound in the ninth inning of Kobe 9 Cruise's 5-0 win over the Osaka Gold Villicanes in the newly-formed Kansai Independent League....
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Postby GuyJean » Sat Mar 28, 2009 1:27 am

Channel 8 is having a report on her, coming up..

*edit - nevermind.. They used it as a teaser.. Fuckas!
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Postby Mulboyne » Sat Mar 28, 2009 8:09 am

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Postby IkemenTommy » Mon May 25, 2009 8:55 pm

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Postby Bucky » Sun Jun 14, 2009 12:18 am

Not a very good outing. Apparently she at least got the first two outs though.:confused:

Japan's first female professional baseball player struggled with her control and took her first loss. Eri Yoshida, a 17-year-old who throws a sidearm knuckleball, took the mound in the ninth inning with the score tied 2-2.
With two outs and a runner on third base, Yoshida threw a wild pitch allowing the winning run to score Friday as the Akashi Red Soldiers won 3-2 against the Kobe Cruise 9.
Yoshida also hit a batter with a pitch and threw wildly to first base trying to hold a runner before recording the final out with a strikeout.
Yoshida created a stir when she signed a contract in December. Some speculated the move was more of a publicity stunt to generate interest in the four-team Kansai Independent League, which has struggled amid Japan's worsening economic conditions.
The 5-feet, 114-pound Yoshida has appeared in only three of the Cruise 9's 22 games this season.
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Postby Bucky » Sat Oct 03, 2009 12:22 am

She seems to be calling it a career.

TOKYO, JAPAN - A 17-year-old schoolgirl who became the first female to play alongside men in Japanese professional baseball will leave her team after just one year to go to university, a team spokeswoman said Thursday.

Eri Yoshida, nicknamed "Princess Knuckle", was drafted last year for a new independent league team, the Kobe 9 Cruise, which praised her side-armed knuckleball, a low-speed style of pitching.

But after a year-long contract with Kobe and having played just a handful of games, Yoshida has decided to leave the team to go to university, a club spokeswoman said.

"She wants to become a baseball instructor in the future," the spokeswoman said. "So she wants to study at university for it. The team supported her decision."

Yoshida, 155 centimetres tall and weighing 52 kilograms, has in the past said she wants to follow in the footsteps of the great Boston Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

Some reports said Yoshida decided to leave the club out of distrust for the financially struggling club.

She wrote on her blog: "I will not give up on my dream at this point. I will not quit baseball... I want to play in the next season after looking for a place where I can concentrate on playing."

A female professional baseball federation existed for several years in the 1950s in Japan, but Yoshida became Japan's first woman to play alongside professional male players.
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Postby Captain Japan » Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:04 am

Looks like she'll be joining the Arizona Fall League. Link here.

Equipped with a sidearm knuckleball that is considered almost unhittable when she is on, she debuted for the Kobe Cruise 9 of the Kansai League in Japan on opening day as she walked one and struck out one in front of 12,000 fans.


"Unhittable" is pretty strong language.
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Postby Kanchou » Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:16 am

When's she's on...

My serve is practically unreturnable when it's on, but that still doesn't make me Andy Roddick.
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Postby Taro Toporific » Wed Jan 27, 2010 4:54 pm

GuyJean wrote:She throws a 'side-arm knuckle ball'? Is that Japanese for under-arm softball pitch? :p
Nah, it's cool.. But I'd like to see her in action before I make any judgments.



daylife.com/ -- January 26, 2010Japanese baseball pitcher Eri Yoshida stands on the mound during the first inning of an inter-squad scrimmage practice game in Yuma, Arizona... Yoshida, Japan's first female baseball player to play on a professional level, reached an agreement to take part in the Arizona Winter League pitching for the Yuma Scorpions.
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Postby Greji » Wed Jan 27, 2010 5:25 pm

Taro Toporific wrote:Japan's first female baseball player to play on a professional level, reached an agreement to take part in the Arizona Winter League pitching for the Yuma Scorpions.


They're taking a lot of liberty with the "professional level" phrasing. They are in fact independent leagues in both countries. Technically, professional because they receive reimbursement for playing, but neither is recognized as minor/major league in either Japan or the US. Actually, only one or two of these players (abeit sometimes more) will get a minor league contract in Japan, or the US during or after an Independent league season. But, not many have made it all the way to the top in either country. These league systems are an extension of the now-defunct "semi-pro leagues" which were a step above the industrial leagues many years ago.

Here is the roster for the Scorpions from their homepage. Maybe they have not updated it, or she is not actually a member on the roster. Interesting.
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Postby Screwed-down Hairdo » Wed Jan 27, 2010 7:43 pm

What's the big deal about a woman playing pro ball?
Baseball has had more than its fair share of girls since the days of Joe Pepitone...
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Postby Screwed-down Hairdo » Wed Jan 27, 2010 7:45 pm

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Captain Japan wrote:"Unhittable" is pretty strong language.


She don't look too hittable to me...and I'd hit anything....
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Postby Taro Toporific » Wed Jan 27, 2010 8:13 pm

Screwed-down Hairdo wrote:She don't look too hittable to me...and I'd hit anything....

I bet any female, Japanese or whatever, in the [color="Silver"]sub[/color]farm teams in the US will get plenty of "action".
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Postby bidayuhboy » Wed Jan 27, 2010 8:44 pm

I bet she can deliver a mean slider.
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Postby Screwed-down Hairdo » Wed Jan 27, 2010 9:34 pm

Taro Toporific wrote:I bet any female, Japanese or whatever, in the [color="Silver"]sub[/color]farm teams in the US will get plenty of "action".


Well, considering they're building up their ball counts for bucks in the boonies, it kinda makes sense to me that the farm is gonna see plenty of action.
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Postby Greji » Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:48 pm

bidayuhboy wrote:I bet she can deliver a mean slider.

Probably goes with the screwball when she's in a jam.....
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Postby Bucky » Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:16 am

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Postby Mulboyne » Fri Apr 09, 2010 8:49 pm

AFP: Japanese teen girl to pitch in US men's league
Teenager Eri Yoshida, who last year became Japan's first woman to play professional baseball with men, said Friday she would repeat the achievement in the United States. The tiny 18-year-old pitcher said she had accepted an offer from the Chico Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League to become the first woman to pitch for a pro team in the United States since Ila Borders retired in 2000. "I have fretted over many things for a long time," Yoshida told her fans in a blog. "But I have concluded that I should not lose this chance to do what I can do only now. I really want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for an opportunity to pursue my dream again and have a wonderful experience," she said, adding she was "really sorry that I cannot repay your kindness in Japan."

The US club, based in the Californian city of Chico, confirmed on its website that Yoshida would play for them this summer and would report for spring training in early May. The team said it was making "special accommodations" for Yoshida, the only female to ever play in pro leagues in the two baseball-crazy countries. These arrangements would include "separate locker room facilities and hotel rooms while traveling on roadtrips," it said. "But otherwise she will be like any other rookie pitcher starting her pro career." Chico Outlaws team president Mike Marshall said his club was "one of the leading teams in moving players to major league organizations and will be a fine showcase for her to show her talent."

Standing at 155 centimeters (five foot one inch) and weighing 52 kilograms (115 pounds), right-handed Yoshida is famous for her baffling knuckleball, a pitch thrown with little speed or spin. Nicknamed "Knuckle Princess," she made her professional debut in March last year, playing with the Kobe Cruise in an independent league in western Japan. She went 0-2 in 11 games before leaving the Kobe club at the end of the season. She then played in a US tryout winter league in Arizona earlier this year with Chico making the offer in late February. Yoshida also had a tentative contract to play for the Mie Throw Arrows in the new, independent Japan-Future League this coming season if she did not move to the United States.

In Arizona, she received instruction from US major league knuckleball master Tim Wakefield, at the Boston Red Sox's spring training camp. "My wish to become a genuine knuckleballer and my feelings toward America have turned stronger and stronger" after meeting Wakefield, Yoshida said. "I will give all I have toward my dream." A women's professional baseball league existed in Japan from 1950 to 1951 and the country's women are a softball powerhouse, winning Olympic gold in Beijing last year. "I'm excited to have her on the team and to watch her continue to improve and develop and progress up the pro ranks," Chico manager Garry Templeton said.
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Postby BO-SENSEI » Fri Apr 09, 2010 8:57 pm

In Arizona, she received instruction from US major league knuckleball master Tim Wakefield, at the Boston Red Sox's spring training camp.


Interesting, since the Boston Red Sox's spring training camp is in Fort Myers, Florida.
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Postby Bucky » Sat Apr 10, 2010 6:05 am

A roster spot does not seem a sure bet.
But new team president Mike Marshall, whose long-standing connections with Japanese baseball officials helped initiate the move in January, said recently that Yoshida will be forced to earn her spot on the season roster during spring training in May like all other Outlaws prospects.
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Postby Behan » Sat Apr 10, 2010 11:53 am

I wonder if there will be temptation to keep her for money reasons. They will likely get more press coverage and ticket sales, and sell a lot more souvenirs.
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Postby BO-SENSEI » Sun Apr 11, 2010 1:36 am

You know they will, even without out the money angle, a spot reliever with a nasty knuckleball would be golden. Good luck to her, I hope she improves her English while she is in the states, I can't imagine she has a translator.
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