Chicago Cubs Top Prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong Has Crazy Ties to 'Little Big League'
The Chicago Cubs are calling up outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong to make his MLB debut this week, ESPN's Jeff Passan first reported Monday.
Crow-Armstrong is the No. 1 prospect in the Cubs' farm system and the No. 12 overall prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, so he is likely to make waves when he eventually joins the lineup. But beyond that, Crow-Armstrong has already been involved in an unlikely twist of fate.
Ashley Crow, Pete's mother, was a supporting actress in the 1994 film, "Little Big League."
The movie is about a 12-year-old boy who becomes the owner and manager of the Minnesota Twins following the death of his grandfather. The boy's single mother, Jenny Heywood, is played by Crow.
Nearly 30 years later, Crow will become the mother of a real-life MLB player. However, whereas Billy Heywood was 12 years old, Pete Crow-Armstrong is 21.
Cubs fans familiar with "Little Big League" are probably crossing their fingers that their team's season doesn't end the same way Minnesota's did in the movie.
The Twins forced a one-game playoff with the Seattle Mariners on the final day of the season, with the do-or-die contest even going to extra-innings. Randy Johnson induced a deep fly out to center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. to end the game, though, and Minnesota was ultimately left out of the fictional playoff picture.
The film's main characters still enjoy a happy ending, but missing the playoffs would be a brutal blow to the Cubs, considering their rollercoaster 2023 campaign thus far.
Chicago was 42-47 at the All-Star break, but has since improved to 77-67 with three weeks left in the season. The Cubs boast a 2.5-game cushion in the NL Wild Card race, although the Arizona Diamondbacks, Miami Marlins, San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds remain hot on their heels.
Perhaps Crow-Armstrong can help Chicago get over the finish line, as the 2020 first round pick was batting .283 with 20 home runs, 82 RBI, 37 stolen bases and an .876 OPS through 107 games in the minors this year.
There may just be a Hollywood ending in store for the Cubs with Southern California native Crow-Armstrong in the fold and his family of performers officially joining the fanbase.
Crow has 47 acting credits to her name on IMDB, with her most prominent role coming as Sandra Bennet in the NBC superhero drama, "Heroes," from 2006 to 2010. Crow-Armstrong's father, Matthew John Armstrong, is an actor as well, with 36 IMDB credits of his own.
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