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American Morning

Danny Almonte May Have Been Two Years Older Than Little League Rules Allow

Aired August 28, 2001 - 09:04   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Turning to what could end up being a very big controversy in Little League Baseball.

Now many people who watched the Little League World Series muttered to themselves, is this too good to be true, the ace pitcher for the Bronx Baby Bombers? Was he too old to compete? Birth records obtained by CNN Sports Illustrated indicate that Danny Almonte may have been two years older than the rules allow.

CNN's Jason Carroll joins us now from the Bronx. He's got some with reaction for us this morning.

Jason, good morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Leon.

Lots of reaction coming from the Bronx. Let me start up by showing you this. It is front page of the "Daily News," "Say It Ain't So Danny." That is the headline. You can see the star pitcher, Danny Almonte, right there the cover.

A lot of people giving various opinions about the most recent development, the whole birth certificate issue.

I'm going to start out here with David.

David, we were talking about this earlier this morning. What are your thoughts?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he's had a highly successful run in the Little League World Series, and because of that, a lot of the parents of the other youngsters of the losing teams have become a little jealous and have raised the serious allegations.

CARROLL: I get the impression you think he's being treated unfairly? Sammy, what do you think? Do you agree, disagree?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it all depends, you understand what I'm saying, because he's a young kid, you know, he wants to make it, you understand what I'm saying. I'm not going to knock him. But as the Little League and him being older, can't play.

CARROLL: It all comes down to a birth certificate, I would think, and we have a picture of that birth certificate. Two different versions of it. If the birth certificate shows that he is 14, what do you think should happen? What sort of punishment do you think should take place?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the parents fault.

CARROLL: The parent's fault?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's the parents fault. The kid has nothing to do with that.

CARROLL: What do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's doesn't deny the fact he had perfect game, had a no-hitter. You can't take that away. I mean, you can penalize the team, what is that going to accomplish?

CARROLL: All right, thanks. Different opinions on the streets of the Bronx. Thanks very much guys, really appreciate it. Now tomorrow, right here on the street behind me, Leon, you can see it right out here, this is Grand Concourse. There's going to be a parade for the team, so it's going to be hard to imagine what some of the people in the Bronx are going to think as that team goes by -- Leon.

HARRIS: Thanks, Jason.

I think this just may be the start of a controversy we will talk about for days to come.

Thanks, Jason. We'll get back to you in a little bit.

The "Sports Illustrated" reporter who helped uncover this sports record discrepancy is going to join us next hour. So you can read entire story in the meantime on the "CNN/Sports Illustrated" Web site. The address there is CNNSI.com, so stay tuned.

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