Mo’ne Davis in action on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. She was the first African American girl to win a Little League World Series game and was the first girl to pitch a shutout in Little League World Series history.

A young lady who made baseball history will be in Birmingham to experience some historic venues – including one of baseball’s historic landmarks.

Sports fans may want to mark their calendars as Little League sensation Mo’ne Davis and The Anderson Monarchs of Philadelphia come to Birmingham Wednesday, June 24, as part of the 2015 Barnstorming Tour: A Tribute to the Civil Rights Movement.

A series of firsts

In case you have forgotten who Mo’ne Davis is, let’s take a moment to refresh your memory.

Davis was the first African-American girl to win a Little League World Series game and was the first girl to pitch a shutout in Little League World Series history. Since then, she has experienced things other 13-year-old girls only dream about. She became the first Little League baseball player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated; she appeared on The Tonight Show; she threw out the first pitch of a World Series game; and she participated in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.

Now a role model to teens everywhere, Davis will turn 14 while in Birmingham on June 24, while playing with the Monarchs.

Named after the Kansas City Monarchs, the most famous of Negro League teams, The Anderson Monarchs Baseball Club was established in 1995. The team grew out of the Jackie Robinson Baseball League at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center in South Philadelphia.

The current 13U Monarchs team features seven players from the 2014 Taney Little League, who played in last summer’s Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The kids practice all year at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center and most of them have been together since the age of six, playing other sports together.

An historic ride

An old Flxible Clipper touring bus

Davis and the Monarchs departed on a 23-day, 21-city Civil Rights bus trip on June 17 in an authentic 1947 Flxible Clipper touring bus. The Monarchs will not only visit some of the nation’s greatest historical sites along the way, but will also play games against local youth teams.

The 4,000-mile trip will take them across America – from down South, up to the Mid-West and back east to New York – before returning back home to Philadelphia.

The Monarchs will gain a first-hand look at history, visiting places that hosted major civil rights events of the 20th century. The young athletes will meet activists who were involved in the movement and African-Americans who played during the era.

Magic City moments

The Birmingham stop will include visits to the historic Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and include presentations from authors Lisa McNair, Barnett Wright and Judge Helen Shores Lee. They will also visit the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Kelly Ingram Park and the Fourth Avenue district.

The Monarchs will also play a Negro League tribute game at historic Rickwood Field – the oldest professional ballpark in the United States – at 6 p.m. on June 24, against the Willie Mays RBI Youth Urban Baseball League team in Birmingham in the Papa Jack Youth Baseball Classic.

Mo’ne is featured with her team. Most players have been together since the age of six, playing other sports together.

The Monarchs will wear the Philadelphia Stars’ Negro League uniforms while the Willie Mays team will wear Birmingham Black Barons’ Negro League uniforms. Travis Brooks, Willie Mays RBI League commissioner, believes the experience will impact both teams equally.

“It’s going to really nurture and develop the kids education-wise from the Civil Rights Movement to Negro League Baseball in general,” said Brooks, who has been the league commissioner since its inception in 2012.
Despite her celebrity status, Brooks said the Birmingham team will take the field looking to give Davis a defeat on her birthday.

“They’re looking forward to playing against her (Davis),” Brooks said. “We’re going to rattle her a bit. We want to beat the World Series Little League team!”

During the trip, the Monarchs will experience first-hand what life on the road was like for African American ballplayers in the first half of the 20th century. To make their experience more authentic in the Flxible Clipper bus, there will be no electronics allowed on the bus – such as cell phones, video games or laptops – like in 1947.

For many of these young athletes, this will be yet another moment of history meeting history.