Female Athletes & Boots Month Baseball Night Eri Yoshida

Female Athletes and Boots Month - Baseball Night:

Eri Yoshida 吉田えり

Eri Yoshida is a 20 year old Japanese female pitcher who has played professionally in the United States for the last three seasons. Eri was originally drafted by the Kobe 9 Cruise of the Japanese baseball league after high school, then signed with the Chico Outlaws チコ・アウトローズ when she was 18 years old. Er is 5'1 and weighs 115 lbs. Eri is only one of a handful of females who have played professionally in the United States and the first female to play professionally in over 10 years. 

Eri's nickname is the Knuckle Princess ナックル姫 because she throws a knuckleball. Eri learned to throw the knuckleball from watching video of former Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield. In 2010, Eri met Wakefield and he gave her some pointers on how to throw the pitch. Eri's "fastball" has been clocked at 63 mph and she throws her knuckleball at 50 mph. Eri's delivery is similar to that of Hall of Famer Tom Seaver becasuse she drags her knee on the ground.  One difference is that she throws the ball from a side-arm position to help hide the ball from the hitter. A knuckleball moves differently from other pitches and for this reason it is difficult to hit. It is also difficult to throw, which is why so few pitchers throw it. 

Eri pitched the 2010 season for Chico, but the Outlaws disbanded during the 2011 season, so Eri signed with the Maui Na Koa Ikaika  after pitching for the Hyogo Blue Thunders, an independent team in Japan. 

Eri began the 2012 season 3-0. For the season Eri is 4-6 with a 5.56 ERA in 10 starts. Eri has experienced control problem throughout her career, as most knuckle ball pitchers do. But Eri is third on her team in win and fifth in innings pitched. At 20 years old, she is the youngest listed member of her team.

Effective knuckleball pitchers can have very successful careers. Phil Niekro won 318 games in the Major Leagues and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame after he retired at the age of 46; His brother Joe Niekro was an All-Star and won 221 games when he retired at the age of 43; Charlie Hough also pitched until he was 46 years old and won 216 games. Recently, R.A. Dickey learned the knuckleball and is on his way to a 20 win season and possible Cy Young Award at the age of 37. Eri is still very young and has plenty of time to perfect her craft.

Boot Nation roots for Eri every time she pitches. Perhaps she will be the first female to play in the Major Leagues. 

Female Athletes & Boots Month Snowboarding Day Elena Hight

Great Boot Quotes in History: I'll be back (to lick your boots) - Former California Governor 

Female Athletes and Boots Month Snowboard Day

Elena Hight

Elena Hight is 5'1" tall. She weights 115 lbs and is one of the cutest snowboarders ever. Elena is 23 years old now and has competed in the last two Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy in 2006 and Vancouver, Canada in 2010. Elena's greatest success has come in the X Games where she won a silver medal in the SuperPipe earlier this year and bronze medals in SuperPipe in 2007 and 2011. We are sure to see Elena at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. 

Elena enjoys other outdoor activites like horseback riding and bunji jumping when she is not snowboardering. Elena is a supporter of Boarding for Breast Cancer (B4BC) and Boot Nation commeds Elena for supporting this important cause. Elena is a fan of tan colored flat knee high boots. She also likes to cover her feet with rain boots when it rains and short boots as well. 

Boarding for Breast Cancer (B4BC)

Female Athletes & Boots Month Snowboarding Day Gretchen Bleiler

Great Boot Quotes in History: Roses are red, violets are blue, if you kick me in the head, I'll spit shine your boots for you. (BootBoy)

Female Athletes and Boots Month - Snowboard Day: Gretchen Bleiler

Snowbarding is a relatively new sport and has only been an Olympic Event since the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan. Gretchen Bleiler has been around since nearly the beginning. In 2002, Gretchen narrowly missed qualiflying due to a tiebreaker. However, four years later, Gretchen won the Silver Medal in the Halfpipe event at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy and competed in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vanouver, Canada. Gretchen is joined by other snowboarding blond-haired hotties, Hannah Teter, Lindsay Jacobellis, Elena Hight and Torah Bright. 

Like Sarah Burke, Gretchen's greatest success has been as an X Games competitor. Gretchen has four four gold medals at the X Games in the Superpipe event in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2010. She also won a silver medal in 2007. 

Gretchen's snowboarding success has landed her on the cover FHM magazine, and has done many photoshoots for Sports Illustrated, Foam Magazine, Glamour Magazine and she even participated in a photoshoot with professional surfer Anastasia Ashley for an Old Spice campaign. She's endorsed Coca-Cola and appeared on the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. Gretchen does a lot of traveling and on one trip she rode horses with fellow American snowboarder, Elena Hight in Australia. 

Female Athletes & Boots Month Ski Week: Sarah Burke

Female Athletes and Boots Month - Ski Week: Sarah Burke
On January 19, 2012, Canadian Free Style Skier, Sarah Burke died as a result of a crash nine days earlier in
Park City, Utah. Ms. Burke was 29 years old. She was a pioneer in women's skiing and was the first woman to land a 1080-degree rotation in competition. She was a vocal advocate for her sport and successfully lobbied the International Olympic Committee to have the Superpipe event added to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. She was considered the favorite in the event. In June the Canadian Olympic Committee announced that Burke would be induced into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will be held on September 21, 2012 at Toronto's Air Canada Centre.
Sarah is best known for accomplishments as an X Games competitor in the Superpipe event, winning four gold medals, including three consecutive years from 2007- 2009 and again in 2011. She also won the silver medal in 2005.
Sarah Burke will be missed by all in the skiing community. Boot Nation honors Sarah Burke for her accomplishments. Please visit  http://www.giveforward.com/sarahburke and leave a message for Sarah's family.