Cooperstown Comes Calling For Eri Yoshida

Posted by Philip Riccobono at 3 June, at 11 : 00 AM Print

From the Outlaws Media Relations

Eri Yoshida’s Next Start Set for June 12th Baseball Hall of Fame To Acquire Yoshida’s Game Jersey & Bat From Her First Game

(Chico, CA. June 3rd, 2010). The Chico Outlaws today announced Japanese female knuckleball phenom Eri Yoshida will make her second start of the year on Saturday, June 12th at Nettleton Stadium against the Yuma Scorpions. Game time is set for 7:05 pm.

The night will be marked with a giveaway of limited edition Eri Yoshida autographed action photos, free to the first 1000 fans through the gates. Personally autographed by Yoshida, they will be marked with a number for authenticity.

Yoshida made baseball history last Saturday night, May 29th, against the Tijuana Cimarrones when she became the first woman to pitch professionally in two countries. Working three innings against the Cimarrones in a game that her team won 8-6, she retired 7 of the first 10 batters she faced, including four with major league experience, and delighted the crowd with her first professional base hit and RBI, sending a run home with two outs in the bottom of the first inning and producing the first hit by a women in a pro game since the Negro League was in existence.

In recognition of the significance of Yoshida’s achievement, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum have requested her game jersey and bat from her first game so they can be displayed in Cooperstown. Hall of Fame officials will be in Chico near the end of June for the presentation ceremony to receive the items. The date will be announced soon as Yoshida’s pitching schedule firms up so it can be in conjunction with a game that she is on the mound.

“Eri Yoshida’s achievements have been remarkable and represent a historical moment for professional baseball,” said National Baseball Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson. “We are pleased that she has agreed to our request for her Chico Outlaws game jersey and bat from her first appearance, and the donation enables us to further tell the story of how women continue to influence and make a difference in the game of baseball today.”

All Outlaws home games and select road games can be watched and heard on www.justin.tv.com/chicooutlawsbaseball, in addition to www.chicooutlaws.com and on 107.3 FM at the Nett.

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