Diamonds Are Still a Girl's Best Friend

As the old saying goes, diamonds are a girl's best friend. Check out this awesome baseball babe shirt made by former BLB author, Marea Anderson!

Purchase this awesome shirt for yourself or a friend today! There's even a matching necklace.

[Like Marea Anderson Designs on Facebook]

Eri Yoshida: Still Kicking Ass

A year ago this month, we wrote about a 17-year-old, 114-pound, Japanese knuckleballer named Eri Yoshida.

The Kobe 9 Cruiser made history last March by becoming the first female to ever play professional baseball in Japan. Pretty impressive. These days, Yoshida is still kicking ass and taking names: like fellow knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, whose delivery she studied on video as a young girl.

Ria Cortesio: She's Outa There

Ria Cortesio, who we profiled earlier this spring as the only female umpire in the minors, was released this week... by cell phone.

Cortesio had been officiating Single-A and Double-A ball for nine years -- the previous five in the Southern League -- hoping to someday become the first lady ump in the majors after working a spring training game between the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks in March.

She was ranked the top umpire in Double-A and was just waiting for an opening in AAA to move up where she would be under the auspices of big league supervisors. So if she was so great at what she did, why was she dumped?

Careful not to speculate, I'll avoid pulling the sexism card and just call it an unfortunate circumstance. Best of luck to you, Ria. Even though this story bums me out as a fan and as a woman, we were very proud to have you around the game for so long.

[Women's eNews NY] | [Hey Ladies!] | [100% Injury Rate]

Ria Cortesio: Our New Favorite Blue

In a follow-up to the Hey Ladies! story from Tuesday...

Ria Cortesio successfully became the first female umpire to work a major league exhibition game since Pam Postema in 1989 when she was on the bases Thursday for the Chicago Cubs' 7-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks split squad.

Her phone was ringing off the hook Thursday morning as the hype surrounding her assignment began to build.

"When I found out I had this game, my plan was to sneak in, work the game and sneak out and hope no one noticed," she said. "That didn't happen."

Cortesio, 30, hustled across the infield, making her calls with an unequivocal fist pump. She blended right in with a dark blue hat, light blue shirt and gray slacks during her flawless performace at first and third base.

Cortesio is the only female umpire in professional baseball as she starts her ninth year overall and fifth in Double-A. Once she makes it to AAA, she'll be evaluated by major league umpire supervisors.

If they judged her well, she would be invited to the Fall League, then to a full schedule of major league spring training games before getting a spot as a fill-in in the majors.

That would certainly be something, since no female ump has ever worked a regular-season game in the big leagues. Cortesio obviously hopes to be the first, which she describes as the best-case scenario.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella, notorious for his run-ins with umpires over the years, had this to say on Cortesio's big league pursuit...

"I think it's good. I really do. I think there is a place for women in the umpiring ranks - they're certainly as qualified as anybody else. I'm sure if they get the same opportunities, the same schooling that their male counterparts do, they'll do a really nice job."

[FOX Sports]

Ria Cortesio to Ump Big League Game

This is huge news, ladies and gentlemen. A female umpire is scheduled to work a major league exhibition game for the first time in almost 20 years.

Ria Cortesio, who will start the season at Double-A, will be on the bases Thursday for an Arizona Diamondbacks spring training game against the Chicago Cubs.

"I'm looking forward to it," she said. "There will be a lot more people in the stands than I'm used to... I don't do this job to get on TV, but I hope it will raise the awareness a little."

No female umpire has ever worked in the majors during the regular season. Pam Postema was the last lady blue to call big league exhibitions, back in 1989. She was in spring training for two years before being released.

Cortesio is the one and only female umpire in professional baseball. At the age of 30, she is beginning her ninth year overall and fifth in Double-A. As a rather petite woman who could totally kick your ass, she cut her ponytail a few years ago so she wouldn't stand out on the field, using a low grunt to call strikes.

Cortesio was on the field last season for All-Star festivities at PNC Park, called the minor league Futures Game, then worked the Home Run Derby the next night.

She started her umpiring career in the Pioneer League, but doesn't consider herself a "pioneer" in a profession completely dominated by men. For several years, she's been an instructor at the Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring.

While working in the Florida State League, George Steinbrenner once criticized her strike zone after she worked a game that Roger Clemens pitched while recuperating from an injury.

This year, Cortesio hopes for the move to AAA, as she is next in line for the promotion when a vacancy occurs. Once umpires reach AAA, they are evaluated by major league supervisors, rather than minor league staff.

[ESPN]