LLWS star, team show how touring is done
Published 8:07 pm Saturday, June 27, 2015
It’s always quite a sight to see the groups of people and tour buses that make a stop at the Edmund Pettus Bridge each day. It’s sad to admit, but after two years in Selma it’s old news to see a tour bus or two stop every hour on the bridge. I’m kind of used to it by now.
However, when a bus from the year 1947 — the year Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color barrier — arrives in Selma, it’s a different story. That’s what happened Friday, as an old school bus carrying the Anderson Monarchs, a youth baseball team from Philadelphia, Pa. made a stop in Selma as part of its three week civil rights tour that will take it around the country.
Seven of the players on the Monarchs were on the Taney Dragons in the 2014 Little League World Series, including female pitcher Mo’ne Davis, who became the talk of the tournament. Davis’ game spoke for itself and it had America enthused.
Philadelphia’s game against Nevada, where Davis pitched, was the most watched LLWS game in ESPN history and drew a 3.4 rating. She became a national star and was the first little leaguer ever featured on the front of Sports Illustrated. Davis even threw out the first pitch at numerous MLB games last season, including one before game four of the World Series.
When I got a chance to interview Davis and some of her teammates Friday, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I came away extremely impressed.
I knew she wouldn’t be nervous. After doing interviews on ESPN and laughing it up with Jimmy Fallon, talking to me probably felt like a breeze.
But she and two other Monarchs I talked to — Scott Bandura and Jahli Hendricks — talked about visiting Selma like pros. The team got together to watch documentaries each Friday in a lead up to the tour and it showed when they spoke.
As I watched the Monarchs Friday and in particular Davis, I can’t even imagine how I would’ve handled all of the attention she’s received at 14. At that age, I was more worried about football practice, video games and what I was going to do during the upcoming weekend. I don’t even think I could’ve handled the tour parameters Monarchs head coach Steve Bandura has laid out for his team.
No electronics are allowed during the tour and the bus they’re driving has no air conditioning.Bandura said instead of having their heads tucked into phones or playing games on handheld devices, the team is playing card games and having actual discussions about what they’re seeing.
Bandura is using baseball as a way to get through to the players about things bigger than baseball. The team seems to be soaking it up and is representing itself extremely well along the way.