Little Unit: The Danny Almonte Story
By Seth Frendel, Sports Staff
Image Courtesy of Espn.com
When they are kids, every baseball player has a dream, that dream is to play in the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The LLWS is a worldwide baseball tournament where Little Leagues from around the globe compete to determine who is the best Little League team in the world. The annual phenomenon gets more viewers during its championship game than the New York Yankees get when their game is televised on ESPN. For some young ballplayers, the tournament allows them to live out a dream of being on TV. For others, the tournament gives them the opportunity to be noticed early in their baseball career. Some Little League World Series alumni that have made it to the big leagues are Cody Bellinger and Alex Bregman. Both Bellinger and Bregman went on to win the World Series of Major League Baseball and are two of the best players in the world today. The Little League World Series can be interpreted as an unofficial farm system for future big-league talent. However, the tournament can also serve as the epicenter for controversy. The latter was the case in 2001. During the 2001 Little League World Series, the team from The Bronx, New York, led by their pitching phenom, Danny Almonte, finished in third place at the tournament. Weeks later, shocking revelations were made that would capture the attention of the entire baseball world, for all of the wrong reasons.
Image Courtesy of Bleacher Report
Life After Little League
Six years after competing in the Little League World Series, Danny Almonte began to play collegiate baseball at Western Oklahoma State College, a community college in Altus, Jackson County, Oklahoma. He pitched and played right field for the Pioneers. As a freshman, Danny was one of the premier hitters in JUCO(Junior College) baseball. At the plate, he had a .497 batting average with 14 home runs. On the mound, Danny accumulated a 7-1 win/loss record as a starter as well as a save in relief. In his sophomore season, he flourished a .472 batting average with 18 home runs and went a flawless 9-0 on the defensive. However, his exceptional play hadn’t been acknowledged by the next level, and Danny Almonte would end his playing career in 2009 following a brief stint playing in semi-pro leagues.
Legacy
Following the enormity of the Danny Almonte controversy, Little League Baseball, Inc. began implementing strict policies regarding player eligibility for their tournament. As of 2019, all players born before August 31 and are 13 years of age are banned from competing in tournament play. Felipe Almonte was immediately arrested upon his return to the Dominican Republic after his visa expired. Danny Almonte is currently the volunteer assistant coach of the baseball team at James Monroe High School in The Bronx. Little League Baseball was created for children to have fun and make memories that will last forever. What happened in 2001 was a shame, and because of the actions of a grown man attempting to give his son an overbearing advantage over a significantly less skilled opposition, many kids were drawn away from the sport of baseball forever.
Fraudulent Father Felipe
Following the conclusion of the 2001 Little League World Series, rumors concerning the Baby Bombers’ star player began to be spread amongst the Little League Baseball community. Danny Almonte’s imposing appearance and total command on the mound raised suspicions about his age. The age limit for players competing in the tournament was 13 years old. Any player who failed to meet the age requirements would be disqualified and all of their team’s wins would be deemed invalid and be made void. In response to the permeating amount of allegations, a team from Staten Island, New York, promptly hired a private investigator to look into the ages of all of the players on The Bronx team, primarily Almonte’s age. Rolando Paulino, the president of the Hispanic Youth Little League in The Bronx, adamantly insisted that Danny Almonte was born on April 7, 1989. Officials at Little League headquarters felt obliged to check the player documents due to the omnipresent rumors surrounding Almonte. Two weeks after the tournament ended, reporters from Sports Illustrated visited the civil records building in Moca, Dominican Republic. They discovered a notation in Danny’s birth certificate, showing that in 1994, Felipe Almonte, Danny’s father, filed Danny’s birth date as April 7, 1987, which would mean that Danny was 14 years old at the time of the tournament, making him ineligible to compete. Sports Illustrated posted their findings on their website, which then launched a full-scale investigation by Little League Baseball, Incorporated.