Japanese team drafts teen girl

A 16-year-old schoolgirl is making a unique pitch to become the first woman to play professional baseball in Japan. High school student Eri Yoshida was drafted by the Kobe 9 Cruise, a professional team in a new independent Japanese league that will start its first season in April. "I always dreamed of becoming a professional," Yoshida, who is 5-feet (152-centimeters) tall and weighs 114 pounds (52 kilograms), told a news conference Monday. "I have only just been picked by the team and haven't achieved anything yet." Yoshida throws a side-arm knuckleball and says she wants to follow in the footsteps of Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, who has built a successful major league career throwing a knuckleball.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/more/11/17/japan.schoolgirl.ap/index.html?eref=si_topstories