By now we've all heard of 18 year-old Japanese knuckleballer Eri Yoshida, particularly after her recent publicity push which included a visit to Florida to throw a few pitches with Tim Wakefield.  There have been exclusive women's leagues in the past (even if Rosie O'Donnell never got to play), and some of us may even know about the short minor league career of Alta Weiss in the 1910s and 1920s.

I always thought a woman with the will and physical gifts would find her way into professional baseball, possibly in the model of an Ichiro/Figgins type player, probably in the infield, or perhaps a finesse pitcher (though a knuckleballer makes even more sense).

The question that doesn't need to be asked, can Eri Yoshida make it in the NPB or MLB, and if not her, how soon can it happen?