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“I’m very excited to go to Canada and play for the pc28����Maple Leafs,”�� the 35-year-old Sato said on a recent episode of “Deep Left Field,”��the Star’s baseball podcast. “I’m so honoured to be part of them.”

Sato has never been here, other than a couple of layovers at Pearson International Airport on the way to pitch in ��the 2012 Women’s Baseball World Cup in Edmonton and the 2024 event in Thunder Bay, both gold-medal finishes. Japan’s greatest female player has led the national team to six straight World Cup titles.

An out-of-the-blue message on Instagram from Leafs executive Andreas Kloppenborg got the ball rolling on the pc28����connection.

“I really doubted it at first: Is that fake or real?” said Sato.��“So I told my partner Mayo, and (we discussed whether to) contact him and we were like: Yeah, let’s do it.”

The idea started last summer with a conversation between Kloppenborg and Leafs CEO Keith Stein.

“I’m always trying to figure out ways to create greater fan engagement and interest in our team,” Stein, whose ownership group is entering its second season, told the Star. “So I called Andreas and I said it’s not only a good promotional tactic, but I think it’s a good thing to do from a corporate citizenship perspective. Why don’t we have any females working for this team?”

Stein was thinking about hiring a woman in management or coaching; Kloppenborg suggested a player, and Stein was in.

at the 2016 Women’s World Cup and starting shortstop on the 2024 squad that finished third, is thrilled to see Sato getting a shot in the IBL.

“I’m so excited, I love her. I got the chance to see her in 2016 and, oh my gosh, she was something in that tournament,”�� Valcke said on��“Deep Left Field.”��

Sato threw a two-hit shutout to beat Canada in the 2016 final.

“We faced her in the round robin and she didn’t even show us a curveball the entire game, just changeups and sliders,” recalled Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Ashley Stephenson, a slugging third baseman on that Canadian team. “Championship game, she just shredded us with that filthy curveball.”

Last year, in her sixth World Cup, Sato allowed no earned runs in her lone start with five strikeouts, four hits and no walks over five innings in a 4-3 loss to the United States.

“I feel like control is one of my strengths,” said Sato, who has issued just seven walks in 11 World Cup starts spanning 70 2/3 innings. “I can throw strikes with all my pitches. I hate to walk people.”

This new challenge, a chance to play against men for the first time in decades, came along right when Sato was looking for one. She had just been part of a documentary about women’s baseball��— “See Her, Be Her”��— and was thinking about other ways to inspire girls in the game.

“Until middle school, I played against boys, but since then I haven’t played with men’s teams,” she said.��“So I’m kind of nervous, but it’s exciting as well — more exciting than nervous. I don’t know how it’s going to be, but I want to do my best.”

Sato is still performing at a high level, but said she is often reminded of her age by teammates on the Seibu Lions Ladies in Japan.

“I’m the oldest right now. Some of the players say to me: ‘I saw you when I was in elementary school and I continued to play baseball, and I didn’t expect that I could play with you.’ So I really feel that, but at the same time I feel happy.”

The Leafs seem just as happy.

“I’m excited to watch a legend pitch for the Leafs,” said manager Rob Butler, an outfielder on the World Series champion 1993 Blue Jays. “We are very fortunate to have Sato on our team. We’re here as a team to support her, and to make the season a huge success with her.”

Butler’s boss hopes Sato will also bring added attention to a team that, despite not charging for admission, struggled to draw as many as 1,000 fans for games last season.

“I’m hoping when she pitches that we’re going to have five thousand people at Christie Pits,” Stein said. “We’re going to have people who care about women’s sport, people who care about this historic moment: the first time there’s been a female athlete playing on a professional or semi-professional men’s team in this country.

“I hope there’s going to be just ferocious interest, because we’re talking about this legendary, great, iconic female player.”

on Sunday, May 11 against the Kitchener Panthers at Christie Pits. There’s no word yet on whether Sato will get the start, but it would make for one heck of an opening day.