“Mo’ne Davis is Different,” by Eleana Ewes
Mo’ne Davis is different.
We knew that the 13-year-old from Philadelphia who flings curveballs that buckle knees and fastballs that zip 46 feet to home plate at 70 mph was different. We were wowed by Davis who became the first girl to throw a shutout in the Little League World Series, the youngest athlete to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated and, for good measure, attracted a record 34,128 fans to Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport, Pa., during the series to see what the pitcher for the Taney Dragons would do next.
She didn’t just share the field with the boys. She dominated them.
We loved it when she told us “I throw my curveball like Clayton Kershaw and my fastball like Mo’ne Davis,” she said.
From a historical perspective 17 other girls have played in the 68-year old Little League World Series, but none ever captured the our attention the way as the Mo’ne whose stature is way taller than her 5-foot-4 frame. She’s definitely a girl with long hair, a perpetual grin and more than 27,000 Twitter followers. With all that she’s on her way.
But the same question followed each of Davis’ strikeouts, including six in her final appearance on the mound. Her team did not win but the question remained. When will a woman break the decades-old gender barrier to play affiliated minor league baseball?
JoeyCasselberry is a squatty, 230-pound first baseman who has forearms rippling with power and a head of hot air. Joey Casselberry was a star first baseman on the Bloomsburg University baseball team…until he used social media to express a vile thought to describe 14-year-old Mo’ne Davis, generally regarded as America’s sweetheart.
Casselberry, for some odd reason, was not happy that Disney plans to make a film about the teenager who became the first female to throw a shutout and win a Little League World Series game against boys. Davis will reportedly be starring in the film, Throw Like Mo.
In a tweet Casselberry called Davis a “slut.”
That word got him kicked off the team.
Then there was the controversy around the Little League World Series Winners from Chicago– the Jackie Robinson Team who had the title taken from them.
None of it mattered. Disney decided that Mo’ne was the story and so it was announced that they were going to make movie about little miss Davis. Yes Little League pitching sensation Mo’ne Davis will be the subject of a Disney Channel movie. The network says development is underway on the biographical film, titled “Throw Like Mo.” It will tell the story of the 13-year-old who last summer made history as the first girl to pitch a shutout in the Little League World Series.
A member of Philadelphia’s Taney Dragons, Davis then became the first Little Leaguer to make the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine.
Meanwhile back in “haters zone” Joey Casselberry a squatty, 230-pound first baseman who has massive forearms that send his balls through the air with a vengence rippling with power but his head is filled with empty air.
Unfortunately he used used to play baseball for Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania but now he has quite a bit of free time on his hands. He was sent home after he referred to Mo’ne as “a slut” in a tweet about how ridiculous it is that Disney is making a film on the young player’s life. This lack of insight got Casselberry thrown off his college baseball team, and got Mo’ne an apology from Bloomsburg president David L. Soltz.
So Mo’ne continues to wow us even off the field.
Maybe Casselberry, a junior from Eagleville, Pa., can use some of what Mo’ne has to learn something about grace and dignity from the 13-year-old kid named Mo’ne Davis, of Philadelphia, who he so disrespectfully put down. The same little girl who so inspired the nation as a pitcher last summer that she wound up on the cover of Sports Illustrated and became the most coveted interview.
Mo’ne became the first girl to pitch a shutout in the World Series last August, and she carried herself with stunning poise even when her Philadelphia team lost. She just finished a superb season of varsity basketball as an eighth-grader and now, in the matter of Casselberry, demonstrates once more why this is a kid so worth celebrating.
“Davis said she couldn’t understand why Casselberry “hated me so much,” but said she wanted him to be reinstated on the team at Bloomsburg because “we all make mistakes.”
WOW! Casselberry struck out. She hit it out the ball park, and won the hearts of the people all over again. Way to go Mo’ne. You’ve got a future!
About Post Author
