Remember this kid Danny Almonte- where he is now

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Dominican teen still living down Little League scandal of 2001

By Rebecca Plevin

Staff Writer

Posted June 21 2005

Miami Shores -- To his teammates and coaches, Danny Almonte is the shy kid who wears his Florida Bombers cap askew, the brim bent slightly up over his mop of dark curls.

He's the skinny left-handed pitcher with a thin mustache, just one of the team's top five or six hurlers.

But to the rest of the world, he may forever be known as the center of the Little League World Series scandal four years ago.

Almonte, now 18, moved from New York to Miami in February and recently joined the Bombers, a Miami-Dade-based 18-and-under team in an elite league. His coach, Emilio Fernandez, said Almonte's life revolves around baseball. But the thing is, even as Almonte continues to shine on the mound, he may be remembered foremost for that incident in 2001.

"If he'd been a guy that just washed up after that Little League scandal, then his name wouldn't keep coming up," Fernandez said. "But the fact that he's still out there and he still has the ability to be very good at this level, that he's continued to dominate kids his age as he goes through different levels of play, that's what brings up the past.

"That's something that's never going to leave him if he continues having success."

Almonte earned national attention as a Little League prodigy when he pitched a perfect game for the Rolando Paulino All-Stars in the August 2001 World Series. It was the tournament's first perfect game in 44 years.

To celebrate the team's third-place finish, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani gave the players the keys to New York City. The Little Leaguers also had the opportunity to stand with Yankees starters during the singing of the national anthem at Yankees Stadium.

Just a few days later, though, Sports Illustrated revealed that Almonte was actually 14, playing for a 12-and-under team with a forged birth certificate. This prompted the league disqualify his team, the Bronx Baby Bombers, from the tournament. The team had to forfeit all the games it had won that summer, and all records set during the Series were erased.

Paulino, the league founder, and Danny's father, Felipe de Jesus Almonte, were banned for life from Little League.

But despite the ordeal, Almonte continued pitching. In 2004, during his sophomore season at James Monroe High in the Bronx, Almonte led his team to the state title, finishing the year 8-0 with an ERA below 1.40.

He moved to South Florida and enrolled at American High School in Hialeah during his junior year, but was ineligible to play this past season because of residency requirements. Because of soreness in his throwing shoulder, he has pitched only a few innings so far for the Bombers, but he says he will spend the entire summer playing with the team. He hopes to pitch for the high school squad during his senior season.

Almonte says that moving to Miami has given him a chance to start over and that he tries to only focus on the present.

Playing baseball is a "dream," he said. "The four hours that I spend playing baseball are the happiest of my life."

He's still quiet around his new teammates and, because he speaks Spanish and just a little English, can communicate with his coaches and a few players. Under the brim of his hat, he has scrawled the phrases "Dominican Time" and "D.T." He mumbles shyly that they're representative of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

He's short with words, but a smile plays on his lips when asked if he finds all the media attention he's received to be "ridiculous."

Almonte may be good enough to deserve the attention. Fernandez predicts Almonte could make it to the major leagues someday and said that Almonte was one of the strongest pitchers the coaches had seen across the country. With better nutrition and conditioning, Fernandez said, Almonte could expect to be a top draft prospect.

And being on the Bombers could only improve his chances for future success. The team, which plays its games at Barry University, had players selected in the 2005 draft and, last year, became the first Florida team to reach the Connie Mack World Series. Almonte was added to the team after the coaches saw him throw at a clinic at American High.

Though his teammates are well aware of Almonte's past, they say they hardly ever bring it up. One of his teammates joked that an article is written about Almonte every time he throws an inning.

But he's right. Because at every milestone Almonte reaches, people will admire the lefty's talent while remembering the Little League scandal.

[124]

Oh I remember this prick.

My town, Pequannock, played NY in the NJ-NY championship game to decide who would go to the LLWS and of course, Almonte 14 at the time and his brother, 16 AT THE TIME, played and beat us 2-1. My friend Chris hit a solo shot off Almonte (remember the rest of us were 12), while his brother struck out every time he was up. Danny, however, hit a 2 run shot off of our best pitcher, Justin, and that was the reason they won. Scandal? No, here, it's bullsh*t and we were stolen a chance to compete in the LLWS.

[Garb]

What I find offensive is calling a 14 year old pawn a prick. His daddy may be a prick. The coach, a prick and the league director could very well be prick too. But a fourteen year old with the weight of the world on his shoulders - community, country and ethnic pride at stake - not to mention the hero worhsip and ego growing he went through. To call a 14 year old Almonte a prick is ridiculous.

Shoot - there's a 15 year old here that drives me banannas - but I certainly would not call him a prick. The mods and admins maybe, but not the 15 year old.....

[LionelRichie]

What I find offensive is calling a 14 year old pawn a prick. His daddy may be a prick. The coach, a prick and the league director could very well be prick too. But a fourteen year old with the weight of the world on his shoulders - community, country and ethnic pride at stake - not to mention the hero worhsip and ego growing he went through. To call a 14 year old Almonte a prick is ridiculous.

Shoot - there's a 15 year old here that drives me banannas - but I certainly would not call him a prick. The mods and admins maybe, but not the 15 year old.....

well put garb.

[vanDoug]

Before the age expose, there was a lot of attention on him. Somebody even nicknamed this kid "little unit".

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