The horrific shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others Saturday is hard enough to comprehend, even without knowing that one of the victims was a little girl who was born on Sept. 11, 2001.
Among the six killed and 13 injured reportedly in Tucson, Ariz. was 9-year-old third-grader Christina-Taylor Green. Green had two personal connections to Major League Baseball; she was a daughter of Los Angeles Dodgers scout John Green and a granddaughter of former Philadelphia Phillies manager Dallas Green.
From the portrait painted in the Arizona Daily Star, she seemed like a neat little girl all on her own:
• She was already a good speaker, her father said; Green recently was elected to the student council at her elementary school.
• Green told her parents she wanted to attend Penn State and make a career helping those less fortunate.
• She loved animals and dancing — especially ballet — along with hip-hop and jazz music.
• She was athletic, too; Green liked to go swimming with her 11-year-old brother, also named Dallas. She also was the only girl on her Little League Baseball team. She played second base.
Her grandfather, 76, managed the Phillies when they won the World Series in 1980. He also managed the Yankees and Mets, and was general manager of the Chicago Cubs.
UPDATE: Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News reached Dallas Green via phone. As one would expect, he and the family are emotionall ruined:
"It's pretty hard," Dallas Green said. "We're all hurting pretty bad."
"I can't believe this could happen to any 9-year-old child," he said, "much less our own."
He said, "The worst thing to ever happen to us."
Then the big man with his big head of white hair, one who was never afraid of anybody or anything in baseball, who once called out George Steinbrenner as "Manager George" knowing full well it would get him fired, began to cry.
The heart just breaks — again and again.
Dodgers owner Frank McCourt released a statement:
"We lost a member of the Dodgers family today. The entire Dodgers organization is mourning the death of John's daughter Christina, and will do everything we can to support John, his wife Roxana and their son Dallas in the aftermath of this senseless tragedy. I spoke with John earlier today and expressed condolences on behalf of the entire Dodgers organization."
A budding political scientist, the young girl was there to meet Gabrielle Giffords when Jared Loughner allegedly opened fire.
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