Seal Blubber Bits - Olympic edition

Here are a few tidbits to nibble on while you wait for the next Olympic hockey game to start:

• The 18-year-old female knuckleballer, Eri Yoshida, has hit her stride in the Arizona Winter League with the Yuma Scorpions. After a rough first outing plagued by wildness, the 5' 1" 114 lb right-hander has reeled off five good outings in her last six appearances. She even notched her first win on February 12th after pitching four scoreless innings against "Team Canada". Yoshida has only surrendered one earned run in her last 10 innings pitched and has lowered her ERA to 4.50. She has only given up 12 hits in 12 innings pitched while walking three and striking out three. Given her potential to sell a lot of tickets and GBL merchandise, there is a decent chance that she will land a contract with a GBL team when the Arizona Winter League wraps up in about a week's time (unless of course she completely falls apart). It will be interesting to see if the Victoria Seals will sign her for the reasons outlined in a previous post on this blog.
• Ex-Seal Isaac Hess is currently playing winter ball in Australia and he hopes to sign with a team in the Mexican League for the 2010 season. The Mexican League is roughly at the AAA level, although its teams are not affiliated with Major League Baseball -- a fact which may allow him to avoid liability concerns about his hip condition. Unless an adept lawyer can draft a bullet-proof waiver for Hess, the Mexican League may be the highest level of baseball that will sign him to a pro contract.
• Bob Keisser of the Long Beach Press-Telegram appears to be backtracking from the rant he published a couple of weeks ago that trashed the Golden Baseball League and independent baseball in general. It sounds like he received some negative feedback from readers and he also had a chat with league CEO David Kaval. His follow-up article can be found here.
• Only 91 more days until the Seals open their season at Royal Athletic Park!!