International Knuckleballer seeks to break barriers…

Written by: Bill Ivie on 3rd March 2010

International Knuckleballer seeks to break barriers... | read this item

Charlie Hough, Joe Nikero, Tim Wakefield…they all have shared an interest in the elusive knuckleball.

Throughout the history of the game, there has been a few pitchers that have mastered the difficult to throw, difficult to hit, and even more difficult to master, pitch. Traditionally, baseball will see one or maybe two pitchers at a time in the major leagues that have mastered the pitch enough to be successful at the high level of play.

Tim Wakefield had the opportunity to meet a young eighteen year old who is working hard to master the pitch based solely on video tape of Wakefield himself. The young prospect was naturally nervous showing the hard work in front of a mentor and idol. The nerves were even higher for a prospect from Japan that was struggling to communicate through an interpreter. Even more rewarding to here an idol praise your work. But possibly the most remarkable and historical part of this meeting was the gender of the prospect working out with Tim Wakefield…

Eri Yoshida is the first female professional baseball player to be drafted and signed in her native Japan. Standing a mere five-foot one-inch tall, she may be diminutive in stature, but her dreams and desire are very large. After a year in an Independent League in her homeland, she made the trip to the United States to compete in the Arizona Winter League for the Yuma Scorpions and attempt to attract the attention of major league scouts. Since then, Eri has attended Spring Training workouts and had the opportunity recently to meet with her mentor and have him critique her mastery.

As remarkable as all of this is, it should be noted that the meeting with Wakefield this past week was the first coaching Ms. Yoshida would receive on the pitch. She has mastered the craft simply by watching video of her idol. Her delivery is a sidearm one, completely unusual for a knuckleballer as the primary focus of the pitch is to avoid spinning or rotation of any kind.

The focus now appears to be the development of a “setup” pitch to go with the knuckler, as most pitchers will set it up with a decent velocity fastball to make it truly effective. Yoshida’s speed reportedly tops out in the 60s, so she has some way to go.

Yoshida debuted in Japan at a mere 17 years old and went 0-2 in 11 appearances. In the Arizona Winter League, she posted one win, one loss, a 6.16 ERA over ten appearances, four of those starts.

Whether or not she has done enough to impress and sign a professional contract remains to be seen, but she has opened some eyes, gotten some exposure, and been able to work out with her idol. I would call that a successful trip. Yoshida was very proud to announce this feat, “I told him that my dream is to become a pitcher like him. And I was able to tell him that in English directly.”