female knuckleballer makes her pro debut on saturday

18-year-old Japanese pitcher Eri Yoshida, aka "The Knuckle Princess," will make her American debut with the Chico Outlaws this Saturday against the Tijuana Cimarrones, becoming the first female to play prop baseball in the United States since Ila Borders pitched in the Northern League in the late 1990s: Female knuckleballer, 18, to debut Saturday in Chico.

Yoshida, 18, recently graduated from high school in Yokohama, Japan. She taught herself to throw a knuckleball after watching videos of Boston's Tim Wakefield. She posted a 4.03 ERA in 10 2/3 innings in a Japanese independent league last year.

Mike Marshall, a former Dodgers outfielder who is president and general manager of the Outlaws, was Yoshida's manager with the Yuma Scorpions in the Arizona Winter League. He was impressed by her performance there (1-1, with a 4.79 ERA in 10 games) and invited her to join the Outlaws.

There aren't a lot of things that would bring me out to Chico. But I kind of wish I could be there this weekend to see Yoshida's debut, just out of curiosity. If you're curious too, the game starts at 7:00pm and will stream live on justin.tv/chicooutlawsbaseball.