Let's Have A Big Hand for The Little Lady...

[Lord Jim]

Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "throws like a girl"...

Mo'ne Davis makes history as first girl to throw Little League World Series shutout



The legend of Mo'ne Davis, the 13-year-old girl with the 70-mph fastball, continued to grow Friday, as she became the first girl to throw a shutout in Little League World Series history.

She might have grabbed the title of coolest kid in the world in the process, striking out eight and allowing just two hits while getting praised by the likes of Mike Trout and Lil Wayne.

Davis' story had already gotten a lot of play before she threw her first LLWS pitch. She tossed a shutout at Sunday's regional championships to send her team, the Taney Dragons from Philadelphia, to Williamsport. That's a very Clayton Kershaw-like week for Davis: two shutouts, 14 strikeouts and only five hits allowed total in two games.

Davis is only the fourth American girl to play in the Little League World Series and the first since 2004. Now — with her historic performance Friday — she's the gold standard.

[BoSoxGal]

Seriously? They don't have Little League for girls??

Anyway, she's fantastic - and there should be lots more girls playing in Little League!

[Sue U]

BSG: As a general rule, the girls little league game is softball (we have several local leagues affiliated with various national Little League organizations; my daughter plays in one).

Mo'ne Davis has been a huge story in the Philly papers. Ironically, perhaps, she has her sights set on playing basketball for U.Conn and going on to the WNBA. She and her team seem like genuinely lovely kids.

[Gob]

Yes, but can she bowl?

[Lord Jim]

Yes, but can she bowl?

Her fastball is already 70 mph, which means she's more than qualified to play at the professional level...

[Joe Guy]

Lots of women are good bowlers...

[Gob]

Yes, but can she bowl?

Her fastball is already 70 mph, which means she's more than qualified to play at the professional level...

Ok, so she can chuck well enough to play pro rounders, but can she develop the skills and technique to bowl?

[Joe Guy]

There's way too much money to be made here. Only a moron would want to become a bowler.


"There is the world and then there is me"

-Jo Sephg Uy

[Lord Jim]

but can she develop the skills and technique to bowl?

You mean can she learn how to not be able to get the ball all the way over the plate and to have to bounce it to get it there instead?

Yeah, I figure she can probably handle the big challenge of not throwing the ball as far as she can now...

ETA:

BTW, a 70 mph fast ball is nowhere near fast enough for MLB, you've got to be in the 90s to play at that level...

But I believe it's the standard speed for a pro cricket bowler...(or to put it another way, in the United States we have 13 year old girls who can throw as hard as pro cricket bowlers...)

And she can throw at that speed from a standing position. Who knows what speed she could get up to if she was able to get a running start like your "bowlers" do....

[rubato]

Cricket would be an adjustment. As an American. she hates losing and hates giving up runs so a game where you fail to keep people from scoring hundreds of times in a game would be tough for her. And a culture that lauds lack of effort and praises indifference would be quite the psychological barrier.

Maybe she could take some performance inhibiting drugs, seconal, quaalude, marmite, find a de-motivational counselor to teach her "don't try so hard that it shows, we don't do that over here."

Mo'ne Davis makes history as first girl to throw Little League World Series shutout


...
Davis' story had already gotten a lot of play before she threw her first LLWS pitch. She tossed a shutout at Sunday's regional championships to send her team, the Taney Dragons from Philadelphia, to Williamsport. That's a very Clayton Kershaw-like week for Davis: two shutouts, 14 strikeouts and only five hits allowed total in two games.
....

yrs,
rubato

[Econoline]

Maybe she could take some performance inhibiting drugs, seconal, quaalude, marmite...

C'mon, Jim...You gotta admit it...

[Joe Guy]

"Even a broken clock is funny sometimes."

-J Rolex Guy

[Lord Jim]

Maybe she could take some performance inhibiting drugs, seconal, quaalude, marmite...

C'mon, Jim...You gotta admit it...

[Jarlaxle]

but can she develop the skills and technique to bowl?

You mean can she learn how to not be able to get the ball all the way over the plate and to have bounce it to get it there instead?

Yeah, I figure she can probably handle the big challenge of not throwing the ball as far as she can now...

ETA:

BTW, a 70 mph fast ball is nowhere near fast enough for MLB, you've got to be in the 90s to play at that level...

But I believe it's the standard speed for a pro cricket bowler...(or to put it another way, in the United States we have 13 year old girls who can throw as hard as pro cricket bowlers...)

And she can throw at that speed from a standing position. Who knows what speed she could get up to if she was able to get a running start like your "bowlers" do....

Greg Maddux, Tim Wakefield, Charlie Hough, the Niekro brothers, and Tom Candiotti would all dispute the bolded statement!

[Jarlaxle]

Maybe she could take some performance inhibiting drugs, seconal, quaalude, marmite...

C'mon, Jim...You gotta admit it...

Yes...even a blind jackass finds a feedbag occasionally.

[Sue U]

Back to the important stuff, it's Philly vs. Vegas tonight with Mo'ne Davis expected to start on the mound. Go Taney!

Next up for Taney: Sluggers from Vegas


Taney's #5, Scott Bandura, left, celebrates as he slides home to score the tying run in the bottom of the 6th off of Zion Spearman's triple. It tied the game 6-6. Philadlephia's Taney Little League plays against the 2014 Southwest Region Pearland East Little League on Sunday August 17, 2014 08/17/2014 ( MICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer

By Matt Breen, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: August 19, 2014

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - The minivan carrying five Mountain Ridge Little League players and its coach pulled to the side of Ballpark Boulevard late Saturday afternoon, allowing Philadelphia's Taney Dragons to walk past on their way to batting practice.

The team from Las Vegas rolled down the van's windows as players stuck out their hands and high-fived the Dragons. The tournament's last two undefeated teams from the United States will meet on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. with the winner going to the U.S. final. But for now, it is friendly.

Taney punched its ticket Sunday with a thrilling 7-6 victory over Pearland, Texas.

Mountain Ridge, the West Regional champion, rolled past Jackie Robinson West from Chicago, 13-2, on Sunday. The team blasted five home runs, including a first-inning grand slam by Brad Stone. Austin Kryszczuk hit two homers. Brennan Holligan struck out six in four innings but will be unavailable for Wednesday's game against Taney.

Mo'ne Davis, the star pitcher of the tournament, is expected to be back on the mound for Taney on Wednesday.

Las Vegas manager Ashton Cave watched Davis pitch on Friday and said she is "phenomenal." His players have played with girls in the past, so they will not underestimate her. He said his team will play its game and "not fall into the trap" of playing the opponent's game.

"We tell them, 'See ball, hit ball. Throw ball, catch ball. Get us outs,' " Cave said. "If you just take care of the fundamentals of the game, everything else will take care of itself."

If Taney wins Wednesday and Saturday, Davis will be eligible to make her third start of the tournament in Sunday's World Series final. If Taney loses Wednesday, it will play again on Thursday, with the winner moving to Saturday's U.S. final.

http://articles.philly.com/2014-08-19/s ... egas-davis

[Lord Jim]

Well, it happens to the best of 'em some days...

Mo'ne Davis strikes out six batters in Little League World Series loss

With Pennsylvania’s Taney Dragons one win away from the U.S. championship game in Williamsport, 13-year-old phenom Mo’ne Davis took the mound hoping for another dominant performance, but Nevada’s high-powered offense forced her off the mound early.

Nevada got on the board in the first thanks to an RBI triple, but Davis rebounded by striking out three consecutive batters and stranding the runner on third.

Philadelphia Phillies GM Ruben Amaro compared Davis with Phillies pitcher Jonathan Papelbon Monday. During the break, ESPN broadcasters said after the first inning that Davis didn’t like the comparison, because “he gives up runs.”

Davis got in trouble in the second inning. With a runner on base, she gave up a home run to Nevada’s Dallan Cave — giving Nevada a 3-0 lead — but recorded another two strikeouts to get out of the inning.

Davis threw 43 pitches through the first two innings, and walked her first batter of the third. After a sixth strikeout of the game, Davis was taken off the mound and moved into the field after 2 and 1/3 innings pitched.

Nevada piled on the runs in the fifth and sixth innings, winning 8-1.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/08/mone-da ... ries-start

[Sue U]

Philadelphia Phillies GM Ruben Amaro compared Davis with Phillies pitcher Jonathan Papelbon Monday

... and Papelbon came out the worse for it.

Ruben Amaro should be so lucky to have a pitcher as talented as Mo'ne Davis -- and as big a draw for fans. Because attendance at last night's Little League game was nearly 10,000 more than at the Phillies' home game against Seattle.

Las Vegas was going to be tough to beat in any event, given their record coming into last night's game. And the Taney coach made a decision before the game to limit Mo'ne to a maximum 55 pitches so that she'd be available for a Saturday US championship game -- whether they got there by beating Las Vegas last night or Chicago tonight.

Still plenty of drama to come ...