Women Playing Men's Pro Baseball Edit
Eri Yoshida of Japan

16-year-old Eri Yoshida of Japan has much to be excited about. She is the first Japanese woman ever to be drafted to play on a men’s professional baseball team.

Eri Yoshida, a pitcher, throws spectacular knuckle balls, as seen by the YouTube footage below (it isn’t available in English yet). And, according to the story in the Washington Post, she threw a no-hit inning at men during her tryout.

Needless to say, Yoshida is thrilled for being chosen:

”I always dreamed of becoming a professional,” Yoshida said. “I have only just been picked by the team and haven’t achieved anything yet.”

Even though Eri Yoshida will play for Kobe 9 Cruise, an independent league in Japan, this still is an amazing and positive step for the equality of women, not only in Japan but worldwide. 

Could American professional men baseball leagues follow suit? I hope so! We have a lot of spectacular women who play softball, and many can pitch, hit, and catch as good as men, they only need a chance.

Normally sports do not interest me very much, aside from the Olympics and Wimbledon, but I think I’ll be scouting the net for footage of Eri Yoshida in action.