THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

Very cool!  I hope she becomes a star.

I’ve long thought a female knuckleballer could make it in the majors, and at least be as good as Sidney Ponson for a bit.

Problem is, I think I read that the knuckler gets it’s peak amount of movement somewhere around 68-72 mph (or, is hardest to hit at that speed, or something).  It’s tough to throw a ball that fast, let alone a knuckleball.  I can’t imagine there’s too many people 5’1” on the planet, male or female, that can throw a knuckler anywhere near that speed.

I think the first female pitcher in the MLB is going to be six feet tall, or be built like a bodybuilder.

I’ve always said that one of the only places in the big 4 professional leagues (NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL) where a woman could conceivably break into would be as a knuckleball pitcher.  Yoshida may not throw hard enough to make it but a much taller girl may be able to, think 6 feet tall. 

The only other places I could imagine a girl competing would be as a goalie (highly unlikely but i’ll entertain the notion) or as a super accurate field goal kicker from 45 yards and in (like Kathy Ireland)

Last year she was on TV quite a bit as the face of a newly formed Kansai professional league here in Japan. First female professional player in Japan at any rate.

I don’t get why women play fast-pitch softball instead of baseball at HS/college/semi-pro/Olympic level.

If there was a regular women’s pro-baseball league and the NCAA recognised women’s baseball, then I suspect that the next generation would choose to switch to baseball from FP softball.  Once they are playing baseball in numbers, the chances of a knuckleballer emerging eventually would go up in a big way.

In fact, what does a really top woman’s fastball look like?  We probably don’t know, but if 90mph for a woman is the equivalent to 100mph for a man, then a woman who’d be a top starter in a women’s league might be able to pitch middle relief in MLB.

There was a woman that pitched on an independent team many years ago.  I think her FB was in the low 80s.

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The reason for softball I presume is for participation levels.  Make it baseball, and you lose 75% of your participants.  They play for fun, not for pro aspirations.

Also, if you switch to baseball, you need a lot more pitchers per team. With fast pitch softball and the quick recovery times, most high schools can get away with having just 1 or 2 pitchers.

That’s a big deal, especially for small schools, who may only have 10-12 girls on the entire roster.

Tango/6:

Yep, Ila Borders. Not surprisingly, she’s a lefty.

Riiiiiiight, I was trying to remember her name.  Good job.