We had this discussion two years ago - Can women compete in Major League Baseball? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board
Today I saw a news article from Japan about a 16 year old girl who throws a mean knuckleball who was drafted.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081117/sp_wl_afp/lifestylejapansportsbaseball_081117063048
We discussed this in the previous thread, it may be the best path for a woman to play professional baseball.
Very cool. I think we were the two biggest proponents that the first woman MLB pitcher would be either a knuckleballer or side arming lefty specialist.
I know nobody will believe me, but I was at an amusement park with one of those radar gun baseball games, where you try to match your speed to win a cap or pennant or somesuch. After feeling rather proud that I matched my 64 MPH fastball and won a Cubs cap, this little 14 y/o wisp of a girl walks up, pays her 3 bucks, and starts throwing 88 MPH heat. Everybody else who was there at the time (including me) had to pop our eyes back in our sockets. This was 20 years ago and I always wondered what happened to her.
I remember when I was about 8 or 9, I spend the whole summer trying to teach myself to throw a knuckleball. But my hands were too small to hold a real baseball that way. So I reasoned it would still work eventually if I got a smaller ball and practised on it until my hands grew, then I would ba a millionare baseball player 
. Unfortunately I missed the whole point of the knuckleball and spend the whole summer trying to get knuckling on a nice smooth superball :smack: It never worked (duh) and I gave up, i was in my twenties before i put 2 and 2 together.
I was never a pitcher (usually played catcher), but when I was fooling around I’d always throw a knuckle by grabbing the ball with the tips of my fingers.
If accurate, that is absolutely incredible, as the top high school pitchers at that age rarely even hit the 80s. I mean mid-70s is considered very good for a 14-year-old.
I look forward to the day. But in all seriousness, my daughter is actually going to be the first woman in major league baseball. She’s 14 months old, so keep an eye out in 2030 or thereabouts.
–Cliffy
Now that I think about it, it Sounds to me like a good ol’ con game at the carnival. The little shill walks up, the operator pushes the ‘other’ button, it shows 88 MPH. All the big strong men around can’t let themselves be beaten by a little girl, so they line up to throw another 20 bucks worth to prove it.
I hope it works out for her. Of course along the way she’ll have to learn that there’s no crying in-
OW! STOP HITTING ME!