Japanese Girl May Be The First Female Pitcher To Make The Pros

By Emerald Catron

From: http://www.lemondrop.com/

Eri Yoshida an 18-year-old Japanese baseball player comes to America and tries to make the pros ... and she's a girl! It sounds like a magnificent sequel to "Mr. Baseball," but it's a-happenin'.

Yoshida is the first woman drafted by a Japanese professional baseball team, and she may be the first female pitcher to go pro. Her secret weapon is the old knuckleball, an elusive pitch that few have mastered, and the one thing that makes her attempt viable. Earlier this month, she hit the spring training circuit in Arizona, where she pitched under the tutelage of the Red Sox's Tim Wakefield. (Yoshida says she taught herself the pitch by watching videos of him.)

Although she isn't trying to make it to the majors -- she's only hoping for a spot in an independent league -- we would certainly love to watch an 18-year-old, 5-foot-1-inch lady strike out her juiced-up competitors.