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CNN Sunday Morning

Controversy Resolved at Little League World Series

Aired August 18, 2002 - 11:54   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The baseball doesn't fall far from the glove. Like the Major League, the Little League is having its own scandal. The eligibility of two boys on the Harlem team was in question; it was about residency. CNN's Josie Karp joins us live now from the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Is that all straightened out by now, Josie?
JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It is all straightened out, Fredricka. And in just about an hour, today's sleight of games is scheduled to get under way. There are 16 teams here from all over the world, but certainly the one that has gotten the most of the attention is the team from Harlem, New York.

Now, here's what happened -- early in the week, they beat a team from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to earn Mid-Atlantic region championship, and that gave them the right to come here to South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to play for the Little League World Series.

But by the time they got here, Little League was investigating claims that maybe some players on that Harlem team had violated residency rules. By late Thursday night, the Harlem team, though, had been cleared. They actually played their first game at the Little League World Series yesterday. And it looked like maybe they took out some of the frustrations from everything that happened during the week on that team that they played from North Carolina. They hit a grand slam in that game, they ended up winning 9-3. They have another game tonight.

Now, this is the second time in the last two years that a team from New York has been involved in a controversy, in a scandal, here at the Little League World Series. Last year, it involved a team from the Bronx, New York. They actually came in third place at the Little League World Series, but afterward, it was learned that their star player, their star pitcher, Danny Almonte, was actually 14, and this is a tournament that has an age limit of 12. So they were stripped of their third place title. Almonte, who had pitched a perfect game here at the Little League World Series had that stricken from the record book.

But this Harlem team, the one that's playing today, they're still having a chance for perhaps even happier ending than the one that they already got, which is, Fredricka, they're here and they're playing, and the veil of scandal has certainly been removed.

WHITFIELD: Glad too see that it's all worked out, at least in the end, and everyone's having a good time there at the Little League World Series. Thanks a lot, Josie, appreciate it.

KARP: You're welcome, Fredricka.

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