Nearly 10 years after she made history, Mo’ne Davis returns to the diamond to honor Black baseball pioneers

When Mo’ne Davis received the invitation to participate in the inaugural Hall of Fame East-West Classic, she had to think about it. She hadn’t played baseball in years and knew the competition would be stiff. Plus, she was in her final semester of graduate school at Columbia University and wasn’t sure if her class schedule would permit the trip. In the end, the opportunity was too special to pass up on.

“There’s not many times where I’ll be able to be around that many great people,” Davis told The Inquirer.

Davis, 23, participated in the Hall of Fame East-West Classic on May 25 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y. The game, played as a tribute to the Negro Leagues East-West All-Star Game that was held annually from 1933 to 1962, featured a host of retired MLB players. Former Phillies Ryan Howard, Doug Glanville, and Tony Gwynn Jr. played for Team East, while former All-Stars Prince Fielder, CC Sabathia, and Justin Upton suited up alongside Davis on Team West. Team East, led by Howard’s three-run homer, won, 5-4.

Davis sported a Kansas City Monarchs jersey for the game, a nod to her South Philly-based youth team, the Anderson Monarchs, which is named after the former Negro League franchise. Nearly 10 years after her two-hit shutout in the Little League World Series, she entered in the fifth inning, replacing Dexter Fowler in center field, and promptly caught a line drive.

Her appearance at the plate didn’t go as swimmingly, however, as longtime MLB reliever Tony Sipp struck out Davis in the top of the sixth. She admitted she wasn’t looking forward to stepping into the box, but, despite the result, she’s happy she did.

“It was really cool — I got to face an MLB pitcher, which a lot of people don’t get to say,” Davis said. “So I’ll take all the heat for striking out, but I think I had some great swings.”

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“The heat” Davis is referring to came from the current Anderson Monarchs — they attended the game and shared dinner with her afterward, and didn’t hesitate to poke fun at her for the whiff. That was a full-circle moment for Davis, who visited Doubleday Field in 2015 while on a barnstorming tour with the Monarchs. This time around, she took it all in.

“When I played with the Monarchs, I was so young, so I didn’t understand the history of Doubleday Field and being out there,” Davis said. “Actually playing with all of those professionals, former professionals, and having the former Negro Leagues players there, it was a moment where I got to kind of fully enjoy and appreciate and honor what happened before I was able to play.”

Davis’ participation in the event came as a representation of the three Black women who played in the Negro Leagues — Mamie Johnson, Connie Morgan, and Toni Stone. As the only woman who took the field, Davis hopes she served as a reminder that women made important contributions to help move the game along in the 20th century.

“It was just an honor, so people don’t forget that women also played in the Negro Leagues; women were also pioneers, they also opened the path for a lot of Black people in baseball and Black women in baseball,” Davis said. “It’s something that I won’t forget, and I’ll always honor them because if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to be in this position that I’m in today.”

The day was especially meaningful for Davis because of her strong relationship with Johnson, the first woman to pitch in the Negro Leagues, who passed away in 2017. Johnson sat behind home plate for Davis’ historic shutout in the LLWS, calling her “the best thing since food” postgame.

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Coming up on the 10th anniversary of that game, Davis finds it hard to believe it’s been that long.

“That’s kind of wild,” Davis said. “It doesn’t feel like it. It was such a crazy time, such a fun time, something that no one expected, but for it to be 10 years … it doesn’t feel real. So much has happened in these 10 years, and I’m very grateful for the experiences that I’ve been able to have.”

Among those experiences include pitching against Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, throwing out the first pitch at Game 4 of the 2014 World Series, meeting President Barack Obama, and appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated. On Davis’ list of memories, none of those top the 2014 Little League World Series.

“If it wasn’t for Little League, then all the other experiences wouldn’t have happened,” Davis said. “So I feel like I’m obligated to say Little League.”