sicem74
07-21-2005, 07:52 PM
NEW YORK -- The only thing more imposing to me than the 25-block trek through unfamiliar Harlem streets was the thought that I might fan against a 13-year-old girl.
So as I headed into New York Tuesday to try to squeak a hit off Sammi Kane Kraft, the hard-hurling Little Leaguer-turned-movie star, I was nervous. After all, she'd recently struck out the side -- every side -- for an entire game. And that was just one of the impressive tidbits I'd dug up while I Googled news about Sammi's natural athleticism and comprehensive arsenal of sinkers, sliders and nasty 70 mph fastballs.
Sammi Kane Kraft had no idea what she was in for from our own Mary Buckheit.
But with my apprehensions (and humility) checked at the dugout door, I'd accepted the invitation to take my cuts against the phenom at an RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) media event on the Upper East Side. So behind a garish grin and under the glare of the summer sun, I faced the wrath of Sammi Kane Kraft.
Two days later, I have to admit: I'm still pretty sore.
It must be from raising that finger as I called my shot to left field.
I took the kid deep.
It had to be done.
* * * * *
Sammi has been well-known on the California Little League circuit for years. But recently, she's been making Hollywood headlines as the feisty female in this summer's remake of the 1976 classic "The Bad News Bears," which opens Friday. Unlike Tatum O'Neal, the original Amanda Whurlitzer who is the daughter of actor Ryan O'Neal and who had already appeared in "Paper Moon" before her turn in the first "Bad News Bears," Sammi hadn't acted a day in her life when she stepped in front of the camera with Billy Bob Thornton.
A Junior Olympian, she earned the role with her convincing skills on the baseball diamond.
There is more on http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=buckheit/050721
So as I headed into New York Tuesday to try to squeak a hit off Sammi Kane Kraft, the hard-hurling Little Leaguer-turned-movie star, I was nervous. After all, she'd recently struck out the side -- every side -- for an entire game. And that was just one of the impressive tidbits I'd dug up while I Googled news about Sammi's natural athleticism and comprehensive arsenal of sinkers, sliders and nasty 70 mph fastballs.
Sammi Kane Kraft had no idea what she was in for from our own Mary Buckheit.
But with my apprehensions (and humility) checked at the dugout door, I'd accepted the invitation to take my cuts against the phenom at an RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) media event on the Upper East Side. So behind a garish grin and under the glare of the summer sun, I faced the wrath of Sammi Kane Kraft.
Two days later, I have to admit: I'm still pretty sore.
It must be from raising that finger as I called my shot to left field.
I took the kid deep.
It had to be done.
* * * * *
Sammi has been well-known on the California Little League circuit for years. But recently, she's been making Hollywood headlines as the feisty female in this summer's remake of the 1976 classic "The Bad News Bears," which opens Friday. Unlike Tatum O'Neal, the original Amanda Whurlitzer who is the daughter of actor Ryan O'Neal and who had already appeared in "Paper Moon" before her turn in the first "Bad News Bears," Sammi hadn't acted a day in her life when she stepped in front of the camera with Billy Bob Thornton.
A Junior Olympian, she earned the role with her convincing skills on the baseball diamond.
There is more on http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=buckheit/050721