After over 150 years, Major League Baseball might have taken a step closer to finding its first female player.
Melissa Mayeux, a 16-year-old shortstop on the French U-18 junior national team, made MLB history on Sunday as the first female player on the international registration list.
Her addition to the list means she is eligible to be signed on July 2, although MLB.com reported that it is unlikely she would be signed next month. However, the site says only players with serious potential to be signed usually make it onto the international registry. There is no official rule that women cannot play in the MLB.
If signed, Mayeux, who has been watched by the MLB’s Director of International Game Development Mike McClellan for two years, would probably not play professional baseball until she is 18. If she is not signed, she would still be able to play for a U.S. university.
Mayeux speaks little English and is, according to MLB.com, “unaware that her presence on the registry might be seen as newsworthy in the United States.”
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