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American Morning
Little League Pitcher Danny Almonte Too Old to Play?
Aired August 28, 2001 - 10:38 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A sports scandal, and this one doesn't involve drugs, gambling or groupies. And that's because the central figure isn't old even enough to drive. But he may have been too old to play in the Little League World Series. An investigation is under way into Danny Almonte. He is the pitching ace of the Bronx team.
Joining us is Ian Thomsen. He is a writer for "Sports Illustrated" who has uncovered what, he believes to be, are discrepancies in the youngster's reported age.
Ian, good morning. Good to have you with us.
IAN THOMSEN, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": Thank you.
KAGAN: First, for those of us -- myself not included -- but for those did not follow the Little League World Series, just how good is Danny Almonte as a pitcher?
THOMSEN: You know, Roger Clemens right now is 17-1 for the New York Yankees. And Almonte, in his league, is more dominant than that. He is one of the best pitchers that anybody has seen in years in little league.
KAGAN: Explain his fastball.
THOMSEN: He was virtually unhitable. He throws with the form of a major leaguer. He looks like Randy Johnson. The kids who were trying to bat against him probably couldn't see the ball until it was too late. He struck out the majority of the players he faced. He gave up two hits, I believe, in the entire World Series that he pitched. He pitched three games.
KAGAN: So the kid is good. But the question is: How old is he?
THOMSEN: How old is he?
KAGAN: Yes.
But first, let's just say for folks not familiar with Little League, you're supposed to be no older than 12, right?
THOMSEN: Yes, 11- and 12-year-olds were playing in this tournament.
KAGAN: Well, how old is Danny?
THOMSEN: Well, Danny, officially -- officially...
KAGAN: He is 12.
THOMSEN: ... is 14.
KAGAN: He is 14.
THOMSEN: Officially. Now, that's all we can go by, are the official records. According to the first birth certificate applied for by his father in 1994, when Danny was headed into the first grade of school...
KAGAN: And go back a second. He was in born in the Dominican Republic?
THOMSEN: He was, yes. He was born near the town of Moca in the Dominican Republic. And when Danny was 7 years old, according to these records, his father went to the town hall, applied for a birth certificate...
KAGAN: And knocked a couple of years off of his kid's age.
THOMSEN: No.
KAGAN: Oh.
THOMSEN: At that time, he said he was an age that would make him 14 years of age today.
KAGAN: OK.
THOMSEN: Last year, just before Danny moved to New York to live with his father, who had since immigrated to New York, his father went to a neighboring town, applied for a second birth certificate saying that Danny is now, today, the age of 12. And that birth certificate allowed Danny to come and pitch for the Bronx team in New York, which he has done for each of the last two years.
KAGAN: So as this surfaces, what is going to happen here? What is the Little League going to do about it? And what could be the implications for this Bronx team?
THOMSEN: Well, there's little that can be done to this -- to the outcome of the World Series. They finished in third place. If Little League officials find that they are guilty of this, they'll -- they'll go ahead and forfeit the last game. They won't get the third-place prize, which is a consolation prize anyway.
But what they would do is penalize the team in the future -- and the league.
KAGAN: It's serious stuff. You know, we call it little league, but anybody who grew up in little league or around it knows, the parents and the players take it very seriously. In terms of the Danny Almonte, I would imagine this is not the last that we have heard of this young man.
THOMSEN: No. In fact, if it turns out he's 14...
KAGAN: Babe Ruth.
THOMSEN: It makes him two years -- it makes him a few years closer to turning professional. So he may look back on this as maybe not such a bad thing once he signs his first contract, if that's what he gets to do in the future.
KAGAN: That's true. If you think about it, didn't Alex Rodriguez sign as a 15-year-old?
THOMSEN: Yes, very young.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: You could be back here next year talking about Danny Almonte signing a multimillion dollar contract. Very good.
Well, the article is in this week's "Sports Illustrated."
Ian Thomsen, thanks for stopping by and talking about the big scandal out of the Bronx.
THOMSEN: Thank you.
KAGAN: I appreciate it.
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