Mo'ne Ikea Davis (born June 24, 2001)[3] is an American former Little League Baseball pitcher and former Hampton University softball player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
[5] In 2008, Steve Bandura, who is program director for Marian Anderson Recreation Center in South Philadelphia, observed Davis playing football with her cousins and older brother.
[6] In 2011, she was a point guard in basketball, a pitcher, shortstop, and third baseman in baseball, but she revealed that she started pitching when she was a substitute from outfielder, and mid-fielder for soccer.
[13] Davis made her debut for the Lady Pirates on February 8, 2020, going 1-for-3, driving in two runs, and recording a sacrifice in Hampton's 15–4 win over North Carolina A&T.
[14] Davis started as an infielder in 49 of the Pirates' 55 games and her batting average dipped to .219 with six doubles, 24 runs scored (2nd on the team), 16 RBI, and a perfect 8-for-8 in steals on the basepaths.
The National Organization for Women filed suit for Pepe, and in 1973 Judge Sylvia Pressler ruled that "The institution of Little League is as American as the hot dog and apple pie.
[26] Davis was the fourth American girl and 18th overall to play in the Little League World Series, out of almost 9,000 participants since the tournament began in 1947.
[17] After the game, Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett predicted that some day she would play in professional baseball.
[34] After becoming the first female to pitch a shutout in postseason Little League history, she received congratulatory Twitter messages from Mike Trout, Marcus Stroman, Kevin Durant, and requests for interviews by television hosts such as Jimmy Fallon.
"[38] In 2014, Paul Graziano, who had been the Little League World Series press box announcer for the last 34 years, stated he had never seen the level of excitement that early in the tournament and that this was partly due to the presence of Davis.
[39] On August 19, 2014, Mark Hyman, assistant professor of sports management at George Washington University, told The New York Times "She's the most talked-about baseball player on earth right now".
[38] Josh Peter, writing for USA Today, raised concern about the merchandising and marketing surrounding Davis' celebrity.
[40] For example, on August 20, 2014, a baseball appeared on eBay, and the auction price was up to $510,[41] along with approximately 40 other items supposedly autographed by Davis.
[44] On October 25 Davis threw out the ceremonial first pitch of game 4 of the MLB World Series at AT&T Park in San Francisco.
[47] In March 2015, Bloomsburg University baseball player Joey Casselberry made a crude remark about her on Twitter and was suspended from future play.
After he had made a public apology, Davis initiated a plea to the school, requesting that the player be reinstated.
Bloomsburg University responded with the statement: "Her request demonstrates the type of person she is, her level of maturity and the empathy that her family and coach teach her.
[50] In 2014, writing for CNN, Kelly Wallace suggested that Davis' accomplishments will affect both girls and boys, women and men.
To support this view, Wallace cited the case of Stephanie Tuck, who, as a girl, played on a Little League team.