Little League baseball star Mo’ne Davis has a skill level beyond her years. We already knew that part. But when she was provoked by an insult on that insult factory known as Twitter, she showed that her maturity level may be her most professional trait of all.
Davis, the teen pitching sensation who became a hit during the Little League World Series last summer, was the subject of an offensive tweet from a college athlete that landed him on the sidelines. Bloomsberg University player Joey Casselberry tweeted a few days ago, “Disney is making a movie about Mo’Ne Davis? WHAT A JOKE. That slut got rocked by Nevada.” (The Nevada Little League team knocked off her Pennsylvania side during the World Series.) The university wasted little time in responding.
Bloomsburg Univ is deeply saddened by what was written about #MoneDavis by one of our student-athletes. His words do not represent us.
— BU Huskies (@GoBUHuskies) March 21, 2015
We take matter very seriously; addressed the issue with the student-athlete (who has been dismissed from team), coach, and the team.
— BU Huskies (@GoBUHuskies) March 21, 2015
Casselberry’s account wound up being deleted, but not before he issued an apology: “An example that one stupid tweet can ruin someone’s life and I couldn’t be more sorry about my actions last night,” he wrote, according to Philly.com. Multiple sports outlets and mainstream publications picked up on the news, and it became a widely distributed story over the weekend.
Davis had her opportunity to weigh in on Monday. It’s an incredibly difficult position for a youngster to be in, having to be in such a spotlight at that age over a terrible issue. But she showed nothing but grace.
She emailed the university to ask that it reinstate the dismissed player.
“While I admit I was pretty hurt when I read his comments, I felt sad that he was dismissed from the team…,” she wrote. “I am sure Joey Casselberry has worked very hard to get where he is and dreams of playing in the major leagues. For this reason, I’m asking you to please allow him back on the team so that he can continue to chase his dream.”
Davis added on ESPN that “everyone makes mistakes and everyone deserves a second chance.”
“I know he didn’t mean it in that type of way.”
Talk about class.
Bloomsberg has said it wouldn’t immediately reinstate Casselberry, according to The Washington Post. But whatever the outcome, the world would certainly be a better place if it had more attitudes like the one Mo’ne Davis has shown. It’s not easy nowadays for anyone to have that level of maturity — let alone a teenager.
