How Mo’Ne Davis’s SI Cover Came to Be

Photographer Al Tielemans sensed the local youth baseball player could become a star.

Full Frame is Sports Illustrated’s exclusive newsletter for subscribers, highlighting the stories and personalities behind some of SI’s photography every other week.

To get the best of SI in your inbox every weekday, sign up here. To see even more from SI’s photographers, follow @sifullframe on Instagram. If you missed our story on covering a historic boxing match, you can find it here.

Al Tielemans considers himself a lucky guy. The longtime SI photographer was sitting inside his home on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, when he stumbled upon a golden opportunity while reading The Philadelphia Inquirer that would capture a new moment in history for SI’s magazine and one that illustrated a greater pulse for girls and women in sports.

Tielemans was not headed on an excursion to Citizens Bank Park to seize an iconic moment from a Phillies’ game, a franchise that was nearly six years removed from their last World Series title and had already recorded more than 65 losses in the 2014 season. The lifelong Philadelphia native instead was contemplating a visit northwest to South Williamsport, Pa., to cover the ’14 Little League World Series.

Philadelphia’s Taney Dragons Little League team—a club that included underdogs from all around the City of Brotherly Love—had earned a spot in the LLWS after defeating Newark National Little League of Delaware on Aug. 10. While Tielemans missed the Dragons’ regional win, he was determined to capture the electrifying 13-year-old female pitcher and infielder, Mo’ne Davis, who had been buzzing around town for her eccentric skills that included a 70-mph fastball and a menacing curveball that gave opposing batters fits.

However, Tielemans faced a riveting predicament. As a photographer for SI, the timing of when Davis’s team played and how they performed during the LLWS determined the probability of producing what would become “something that could make a difference” a week later. “It was a tiny five-day window … but it worked out perfectly,” Tielemans says. 

SI Vault: The Ace of the Place

After Tielemans successfully pitched the idea to SI’s then managing editor Chris Stone and jotted down all of his win-loss scenarios in an Excel sheet column, he made the three-hour drive to South Williamsport. He captured photos of Davis in practice, snapped more from a 4–0 victory against South Nashville (Tenn.) Little League and also covered the Dragons’ drama-filled contest against the team from Texas on Aug. 17 before they fell to Nevada three days later in the U.S. semifinals.

During batting practice ahead of a game, Tielemans captured a photo of Davis sitting on a turned-over bucket with her arm extended in anticipation to catch the ball from her teammate. It was one of the first moments when Tielemans laid eyes on the pitcher, the “Philadelphia girl” who was “dominating the little boys.”

“It was beautiful light with her tossing the ball,” Tielemans says. “Freezing that absolute moment in time and anticipating it can be hard … but that weekend, there was a lot of luck involved in pictures happening that really showed what would make the story great.”

As Tielemans shot stunning moments from the games, one that stood out beyond the optics and composition was a picture he snapped after the contest of a man sitting next to a young girl wearing a “Mid-Atlantic” hat while holding a sign that read “Show Me the Mo’ne.” The photo spoke to the magnitude and publicity that Davis was garnering each game that Pennsylvania won throughout the tournament. However, it was a moment that Tielemans never thought would happen. “I was running around like a loon trying to get as many different looks at her pitching,” Tielemans says. “Between pitch counts and what can happen in a game, she could have been done at any time.”

One of Tielemans’s quintessential pictures from the tournament came from a moment when Davis was pitching. Davis’s left foot was perfectly positioned forward, and the tip of her right foot was planted sufficiently in the mound. Her long flowing braids swayed to the right and her hazel-almond eyes were concentrated on the catcher while delivering a pitch during a shutout against Tennessee. Along with becoming the first girl to earn a win and to throw a shutout in LLWS history, Davis became the first Little League baseball player to appear on the cover of SI. It was Tielemans’s photo of Davis that was seen all around the country.

“[The photo] was everywhere,” Tielemans says. “It was big league … her physique, her hair, it was by far the most iconic. … It was cool when something you’re involved in gains national attention.”

But, as Tielemans remembers it, that game was only the beginning of what would become big news when Davis took the mound against Texas in the semifinal. Davis helped the Dragons secure the win against Pearland (Texas) East Little League team in walk-off fashion thanks to a throwing error at the end of the game. But before doing so, Tielemans captured a moment when Davis laughed with Texas players during Pennsylvania’s team introductions ahead of the game. The moment personified Davis’s attitude, one that was seemingly unfazed by the popularity and attention she was garnering.

“She always viewed herself as another kid and that’s what she’s doing here,” Tielemans says. “Kids would ask for a picture with her, and she would be silly with them in photos as a kid would. When parents and older people would ask for photos, she thought it was crazy. There was no doubt that she [Davis] was the center of attention, but she didn’t seek it out.”

In three decades of shooting and capturing iconic photos in sports, Tielemans still says Davis’s and Pennsylvania’s run in the 2014 LLWS was one of the coolest sports moments of his career. “It was only one week, but to take a potential time line, sell it as a story and actually have it work for Davis to be on the cover was a big deal.”

Have questions, comments, or feedback about Sports Illustrated‘s newsletters? Send a note to josh.rosenblat@si.com.