I Hope Eri Yoshida Is In For Some Culture Shock

Eri Yoshida is the 18-year-old female pitcher from Japan who studied the art of the knuckleball from Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield. Yoshida signed a contract to play baseball in the Golden Baseball League, an independent league with teams in California, Arizona, Canada and Mexico. Yoshida specifically signed with the Chico Outlaws. Welcome to culture shock, Ms. Yoshida.

It has to be difficult for anyone to move away from your home into a new area that your not familiar with. Now imagine growing up in a foreign country and moving to a different country that speaks a different language. Now imagine moving away from a foreign country to a small farm town in Northern California. Now imagine if you move to this small farm town and find out that it's actually a big party town.

That's exactly what Chico, California is, a big party town. I grew up in the area, I know. The college in the town, Chico State University, is routinely ranked in Playboy's top 10 of college party schools. This is the same town where people in the summer go to the Sacramento River and float on inner-tubes down the river drinking beer all day.

This doesn't even add into the fact that Chico is in the middle of nowhere. Once you leave town there is nothing but Almond orchards and rice checks. Your in the middle of an agricultural mecca where it takes forever to travel to the next major city. It take 3 to 3 1/2 hours just to get to San Francisco from Chico. It takes an hour and a half just to get to Sacramento.

Now imagine being Ms. Yoshida who is coming from Kawasaki, Japan the ninth most populated city in Japan. So yeah it's going to be quite a culture shock for this young lady. She does though sound like she's up to the task.

"I am grateful for this opportunity to pitch for the Chico Outlaws," Yoshida told the AP. "This is a dream come true for me and I hope I can contribute to the team and help them win and also to continue to improve as a pro baseball player."

I wish her luck. I hope she has a great time in Chico and doesn't get caught up in the craziness on The Esplanade. Hey! Maybe she will visit the Bidwell Mansion and the Sierra Nevada Brewery?

Female knuckler Yoshida to Play in Minors (MLB.com)