The Toronto Maple Leafs (of the the Intercounty Baseball League) are set to make history.
Arguably the best female baseball player in the world will take the bump for the IBL’s Maple Leafs in 2025, after the squad signed star Japanese pitcher Ayami Sato. The 34-year-old will become the first woman ever to play professional baseball in Canada.
“I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to play with the Toronto Maple Leafs,” said Sato in a statement released by the team. “It is a dream come true for me to play at this competitive level with former major leaguers and top minor league players.”
The IBL, an independent, semi-pro baseball league based in Ontario, has seen Major League stars like John Axford, Fergie Jenkins and Paul Spoljaric pass through its ranks.
MAPLE LEAFS MAKE HISTORY!
The Toronto Maple Leafs are honoured to announce the signing of Ayami Sato, one of the best pitchers in the world, who will make history as the first woman to play professional baseball in Canada!
Sato, a six-time world champion, has pitched for Team… pic.twitter.com/VxqihKiCdp
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@IBLMapleLeafs) December 3, 2024
Sato is considered one of the game’s legends in her home country of Japan. She helped lead her country to six straight Women’s Baseball World Cup gold medals from 2010-2024 (there was no tournament in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic) and was named MVP of the event three times in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
Professionally, the 34-year-old, who has spent her entire career in the Japan Women’s Baseball League, finished third in career games pitched (175), first in complete games (89), third in shutouts (16), fifth in saves (13), second in innings pitched (876.2) and second in strikeouts (411).
In an interview with MLB.com in 2023, Sato detailed how she had to adjust her style to compete with boys — and later, men — as she climbed through Japan’s baseball ranks.
“Playing amongst boys, it was a matter of figuring out how to throw faster or how to create movement in order to beat them,” Sato said.
“I remember throwing a ball against the wall and kind of testing it to see how it can get better, how it can get better movement, how it can get better speed while still having fun.”
With no women role models in baseball to emulate, Sato detailed the pressure she faced to switch from the male-dominated sport of baseball to softball, making her story and the fact she stuck with the sport she loves against the odds even more inspiring.
“There’s always been that kind of pressure [to change sports] growing up,” Sato said, via MLB.com. “I felt that when I was going from elementary school to middle school and also middle school to high school. There was just the lack of an environment to play girls baseball, while changing schools or moving up in schools at every stage.”
Upon news of the signing, Canadian baseball fans took to social media to chime in.
“Let’s go,” one reply read.
“So cool!! can’t wait to see Ayami pitch!!” Read another.
“Actually a great signing if you’ve seen her pitch you know she has some nasty stuff in her arsenal!” One user on X wrote. “She’s HER,” wrote another.
“This is truly awesome,” one user wrote.
While many shared how cool they thought the signing was, others just couldn’t get over the fact that the IBL’s “Maple Leafs” share a name with the popular National Hockey League team.
“I was a bit confused not realizing you’re not the hockey team – but congrats, it’s a great signing!” one user on X wrote.
“Could they choose a more cringe name? I think not,” read one reply, while another wrote: “What the hell is this headline? Who is she playing for?”
The NHL franchise was founded as the Toronto Arenas in 1917. Two years later in 1919, the NHL transferred the franchise to new owners who changed the team name to the Toronto “St. Patricks” until the franchise was sold again in 1927 and renamed the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club.
The IBL’s Maple Leafs, meanwhile, have roots dating all the way back to 1895. The club has played in the Ontario-based Intercounty Baseball League since 1969, earning eight league titles in that time.
Now you know.