Knuckleball pitcher Claire Eccles makes history

When Claire Eccles pitched for the Victoria HarbourCats on Wednesday, she became the first woman to ever play in the West Coast League.

In West Coast League action, the Victoria HarbourCats and Wenatchee AppleSox played a game on Wednesday night. The Applesox led 7-0 in the seventh inning at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria, B.C. In the bullpen, a left-handed knuckleball pitcher was warming up to prepare to pitch the eighth inning. Despite the score, the crowd of 1,263 was eagerly awaiting the appearance of the lefty. Of course, who isn’t excited when a knuckleball pitcher enters the game?

In this case, it wasn’t just the knuckleball that was keeping the fans on the edge of their seats; it was the pitcher, Claire Eccles. She walked in from the bullpen and took the mound to a standing ovation as the first female to play in the West Coast League, which is a collegiate summer league with teams in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. The league is for currently eligible college players and many current MLB players once played in the West Coast League, including Jacoby Ellsbury, Chris Davis, James Paxton and Mitch Haniger.

Being a knuckleball pitcher, Eccles walked the first batter. The knuckleball is a tough pitch to control. Phil Niekro was a major league pitcher who specialized in the knuckleball and won 318 games in his career. He once walked 164 batters in one season with a difficult-to-control knuckleball. Those 164 walks allowed were the most in the National League. He also struck out 262 that year, which was also the most in the National League. He’s in the Baseball Hall of Fame now.

After the walk, a wild pitch advanced the runner to second, but Eccles got the batter to ground out back to her for the first out. Mark it 1-3 in your scorebook. On the first pitch to the next hitter, the runner stole third. It’s easier to steal on knuckleball pitchers because of the slower speed and erratic nature of the pitch. Phil Niekro had a brother named Joe who was also a knuckleball pitcher in the big leagues. He once allowed 47 stolen bases in a single season. He won 221 games in his career.

A sacrifice fly to center scored the run. Eccles then got the final batter of the inning to fly out to left. As the players walked off the field, the announcer probably gave the typical end-of-inning recap, “That’s one run on one hit and no errors, with one runner left on base.” In an 8-0 game, Claire Eccles had pitched just about as well as her two teammates before her.

In the ninth inning, Eccles retired the first two hitters on groundouts, then beaned the third. It’s not uncommon for knuckleballers to hit batters with the unpredictable butterfly of a pitch. Tim Wakefield was a knuckleball pitcher in the 1990s and 2000s who twice led the league in hit batters, plunking 16 in 1997 and 18 in 2001. He won 200 games in his MLB career.

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On a 1-2 count, the runner stole second. He came around to score on a single to make it 9-0. The final batter of the inning flew out to right field. The HarbourCats couldn’t muster any runs of their own in the bottom of the ninth and 9-0 was the final score. Eccles pitched two innings and allowed two runs on one hit and one walk.

Having a female compete with men on the baseball diamond was a historic moment for the league. There is plenty of attention coming her way right now, with the media coverage and recognition she’s receiving. She got a congratulatory tweet from current MLB knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. She was also interviewed by a Canadian morning show called BT (Breakfast Television Toronto) and talked about the experience:

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Claire Eccles becoming the first woman to play in the West Coast League was a history-making moment. At the same time, it was just a left-handed pitcher coming into a game in the late innings and getting batters out. Eccles is an athlete who loves baseball and wants to compete at the highest level she can. In that sense, she’s no different than any other player on the field.