The has signed Ayami Sato, making her the first female player in the 106-year history of the Ontario-based Intercounty Baseball League.
Sato, 34, is considered one of the best female pitchers in the world. She has won six consecutive Women’s Baseball World Cup championships with Japan, part of the country’s stretch of seven in a row, and she won three consecutive tournament MVP awards, in 2014. 2016 and 2018.
“I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to play with the pc28Maple Leafs,” Sato said in a press release. “It is a dream come true for me to play at this competitive level with former major-leaguers and top minor-league players.”
Sato dominated the Japan Women’s Baseball League before it folded in 2021, posting a 2.31 ERA in its last four seasons.
“As someone who has five sisters, I am overjoyed to see Ayami Sato have the opportunity to play in Canada’s premier professional baseball league,” Cito Gaston said in the release.
Gaston, who managed the Blue Jays to back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993, joined the Leafs in October as a special adviser.
The additions of Sato and Gaston are part of pc28businessman Keith Stein’s overhaul of the team. Stein bought the Leafs for more than $1 million last year and promised to “make this team really big.”
“I feel a duty to do everything I can to build this team, invest in the team (and) invest in Christie Pits,” he told the Star.
The Leafs finished seventh in the IBL in 2024 with a 17-25 record. They were swept in the quarterfinals by the Barrie Baycats, who went on to win the league championship.
The IBL fields nine semi-professional clubs across Southern Ontario. The Leafs have called Christie Pits home since 1969, when they were founded by Jack and Lynne Dominico. The team’s namesake dates back to 1886.
“Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run against the pc28Maple Leafs in 1914,” Stein said in the release. “I’m so proud that we can once again make history with the signing of Sato. It is a great moment for our team and a milestone for women’s baseball.”
Sato’s signing comes less than a week after the IBL rival Hamilton Cardinals signed former MLB closer Fernando Rodney. The 47-year-old spent 17 seasons in the big leagues, amassing 327 career saves and making the all-star team on three occasions.
The signing also comes a month after Stein announced plans to launch a new professional women’s baseball league that will begin play in 2026 with at least six teams. That league will have Sato as a special adviser.
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