Japanese girl makes her pitch for pro team

[intheflow]

Source: Yahoo!/AP

TOKYO – The knuckleball — the fluttering, hard-to-hit pitch that's rare in the major leagues — is propelling a 16-year-old girl to the pros in Japan.

Eri Yoshida was inspired to learn how to throw the knuckler after seeing a video of Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield. On Monday, she broke the gender barrier by being drafted for an independent league team as Japan's first female professional baseball player.

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Yoshida is hoping to find enough success to one day challenge the likes of the long-established Central and Pacific leagues, home to the best and brightest Japanese players and increasingly a fertile ground for talent headed to the majors in the United States.

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Yoshida started playing baseball when she was in the second grade, tagging along with her elder brother, now 19, and played first base on a boy's team in junior high school. She also joined her high school baseball club, but quit because the training was too tough. Then she joined a private club.

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Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081118/ap_on_re_as/bbi_knuckleball_girl

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First female pro in Japanese baseball! WTG, Eri Yoshida! :yourock:

[sasquatch]

1. I hope she does well

[intheflow]

2. My dream is that she becomes so successful

she eventually comes over here and breaks baseball's gender barrier in the U.S., too. :)

[soleft]

3. Does Japan use the DH?

[zelta gaisma]

4. you GO girl :D