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CNN Live Saturday

What Happened to Danny Almonte?

Aired August 24, 2002 - 12:44   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight is the big night for two Little League teams vying for the world championship title. Worcester, Massachusetts will take on Louisville, Kentucky. The winner gets the national title and moves to the world championship. Worcester beat the Harlem Little Leaguers Thursday night with a last- inning home run. Earlier, in the series the Harlem team faced questions about whether three of their players lived outside the district. Officials later cleared the team and let them all play.
Well, controversy about another New York City team changed the outcome of last year's championship. CNN's Josie Karp reports on what's happened to those at the center of the storm.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (speaking in Spanish)

JOSIE KARP, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the baseball mementos Danny Almonte keeps close at hand. A medal for outstanding pitching and a team trophy.

Almonte's keepsakes don't include anything from last summer's Little League World Series, when his team was stripped of it's victories and his perfect game was erased from the record book.

DANNY ALMONTE, FRMR LITTLE LEAGUE PLAYER (through translator): I remember the good stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When he saw himself on TV, he thought they were saying good things about him.

KARP: The child's face was front and center. But in the end, two adults were held responsible for supplying a fake birth certificate and lying to Little League officials about Almonte's age, his father and Bronx Little League President Rolando Paulino.

As a result, Paulino was banned from Little League for life. Only now, a year later, does he admit that Almonte was too old to play last summer in a tournament with an age limit of 12.

ROLANDO PAULINO, FRMR. LITTLE LEAGUE PRESIDENT (through translator): Until June of this year, or the end of May, to me, Danny's age was that he turned 13 in April. When I saw the new document, that I saw for the first time in June, now Danny, to me, is 15. I'm really sorry about everything that happened in the 2001 Little League World Series. If there were people affected with all of this, truly from my heart, I ask for their forgiveness. But I never did do anything. I really wasn't responsible for all of this.

KARP: Almonte and Paulino are now closer than ever. When the child's father returned to the family's home in the Dominican Republic, nine months ago, the star baseball player moved in with Paulino's family.

PAULINO: We faced the choice of who would take Danny in or if he would go back to his country. And I offered to take him in. I was given the opportunity of doing something for a child. If it hadn't been me, someone else would have done it.

KARP: This summer, like last, is filled with baseball for Almonte. Away from the field New York's administration for children services continues to monitor his education. He finished eighth grade and will go to high school in the fall, where he hopes to play baseball. He's getting plenty of practice now as a member of three different summer league teams.

ALMONTE (through translator): That's my favorite sport. It's a lot of fun. We have fun with friends.

KARP (on camera): Because of what happened last year with Almonte, this year Little League implemented new guidelines for proving a player's eligible. There's an eight-page affidavit with detailed information and new requirements relating to birth certificates. Almonte's name may have been stricken from the record book, but his impact on the rule book is lasting.

Josie Karp, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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