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| Posted By | Discussion Topic: Baby Bombers pitcher may have been too old for LLWS | ||||
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| TeenWeek what's a status? | posted on 08-28-2001 @ 8:22 AM |    | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00  | The Baby Bombers' star pitcher may not be a baby after all. Little League officials announced they are investigating whether southpaw sensation Danny Almonte was a ringer after a document surfaced yesterday suggesting he's 14 — not 12, as the Bronx's Rolando Paulino All-Stars contend. Team officials, who have been fending off accusations that Almonte is overage, insisted again the boy with the 77 mph fastball is 12. So did his mother. "It's a lie," Almonte's mother, Sonia Rojas, 27, told the Daily News in a telephone interview yesterday from her home in the Dominican Republic. "People are jealous of what my son has done. ... If he hadn't been so successful, we wouldn't even be talking about this." But a Sports Illustrated reporter tracked down Danny's original birth record at the central registry in the Dominican Republic. It lists his birth date as April 7, 1987, which would make him 14 and too old to play for the Baby Bombers. The reporter also discovered that just weeks before Danny moved to the Bronx last year and launched his spectacular Little League career, his father, Felipe Almonte, apparently created a second birth record for the boy and listed the birth date as April 7, 1989. The controversy threatened to overshadow the stellar performances by Almonte, who hurled the first Little League World Series perfect game in 44 years, and his team, which came within one win of making it to the championship game. This official declaration from the Dominican Republic states that Danny Almonte's father claims his son was born April 7, 1987, which would make Danny too old to participate in the Little League World Series. The scrappy squad from the Bronx became media darlings in Williamsport, Pa., with Almonte attracting swooning girls and autograph seekers. The team returned to the Bronx yesterday to cheers. But the homecoming was marred when Sports Illustrated presented league officials with a birth record indicating a 14-year-old named Danny Almonte was born April 7, 1987, in the city of Moca to parents named Felipe Almonte and Sonia Rojas. The birth record was registered with the Dominican government in December 1994 by Almonte's father, the magazine reported. It is not unusual for parents in the Dominican Republic to wait several years before officially declaring the birth of a child, the magazine said. On March 21, 2000 — a few weeks before Almonte moved to the U.S. and joined the Bronx team — his father revised the birth record and shaved two years from his son's age, Sports Illustrated reported. That birth record, submitted to Little League by the Rolando Paulino team, showed Almonte being born to the same parents in the same town — but on April 7, 1989, the magazine said. Little League rules prohibited any player born before Aug. 1, 1988, from competing this year. "If this is the same Danny Almonte who played for Rolando Paulino Little League, then we have been deceived, and a fraud has been perpetrated on Little League and the millions of youngsters for whom Little League is so important," league President Stephen Keener said in announcing the investigation. If it turns out Almonte is 14, the Baby Bombers could be forced to forfeit their last win in the consolation game against Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. The league also could revoke the Rolando Paulino League's charter. The announcement of the investigation marked a turnabout for Little League officials. On Friday, they insisted they had checked the team out after a Staten Island coach revealed he had spent $10,000 on private investigators to determine whether the Bronx squad had any ringers. The detectives found nothing, but questions about the lanky Almonte continued to dog the team. Eyebrows also were raised by reports that Almonte's father, who is 36 and lives in the Bronx, was "vacationing" in the Dominican Republic while his son was racking up strikeouts. Later, Almonte's mother was denied a visa to come see her son play because she couldn't produce his birth certificate. She told the U.S. Embassy that the boy's father, from whom she is estranged, had the paperwork. Questions also have been raised about the age of Almonte's brother, Juan, who was a star pitcher on last year's Rolando Paulino All-Star squad. His mother said Juan was born Aug. 19, 1987 — making it impossible, she said, for Danny to have been born four months earlier. Joan Dalmau, a spokeswoman for the Bronx team, insisted Juan was born in December 1987. Sports Illustrated said it couldn't find a birth record for Juan. Dalmau said the team has paperwork proving Danny is 12. "We have his original birth certificate, we have his visa and we have his passport," she said. Dalmau said the Baby Bombers are being picked on because they are Latino kids from the Bronx. "If we were white, this wouldn't have happened," she said. Madeline Castro, the mother of first baseman Tommy Guzman, said the allegations are insulting. "When Paulino gets beat by other teams, you don't see him asking for birth certificates and passports," she said. "The bottom line is it's only happening because we're from the Bronx." A spokeswoman for Merrill Lynch, a major team sponsor, declined comment on the controversy last night. At City Hall, aides to Mayor Giuliani said he planned to go ahead with a noon ceremony today presenting Keys to the City to each team member. And a parade down the Grand Concourse was still on for tomorrow. | ||||
| darthziggy Isles fan for life | posted on 08-28-2001 @ 1:23 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Aug. 00 | and the mom is really breaking down those stereotypes with proof that she had a kid while she was 13! even if it was 15, so fucking what? this chick is in need of some assistance. darthziggy@opieanthony.com I'm off to Franklin Pierce College in September. Go Ravens! LET'S GO ISLANDERS This message was edited by darthziggy on 8-28-01 @ 1:26 PM | ||||
| Cluster F | posted on 08-28-2001 @ 6:24 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00 | gee, what a surprise...i just cant believe these kids got keys to the city for finishing third. I might as well run a marathon with a broken leg, finish 1500th, and getting a key because it was "politically correct". What a bunch of crap, im not totally blaming the kid, he just has to do as he's told by the coaches. The coaches are to blame, as well as Danny's retarded father. | ||||
| Francine Banger | posted on 08-28-2001 @ 6:53 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Dec. 00 | So if the Mets beat out the Marlins and come in 3rd Place in the NL East. Do they get keys to the cities too? Thats bullshit. They couldnt even get the job done using illegal players. F Them.  | ||||
| BaLLooN NoT | posted on 08-28-2001 @ 8:22 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00 | quote: yea what he said....lol :)  Thank you Jolene for the sig!!! E-Mail = E-Mail Me AIM = OABaLLooNNoT | ||||
| Canweseeyourstuff | posted on 08-29-2001 @ 5:38 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00 | the daily news had a pull out section in todays paper congratulating them on being little league champions since when is third place considered a champ take their illegal pitcher out of the mix and they dont even get into the tournament.Fuck them cheating bastards.see how long little danny stays in this country when he hits 16 in 2 years and eligible for the major league draft he'll go back to dominica so fast so he can become a free agent and sign for the bucks. http://photos.yahoo.com/canweseeyourstuff This message was edited by Canweseeyourstuff on 8-29-01 @ 8:35 PM | ||||
| darthziggy Isles fan for life | posted on 08-29-2001 @ 6:23 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Aug. 00 | i was watching cnn/si this afternoon and they said that if the kid is indeed 14, he's eligible for the major league draft in 2 years. wait till then and we'll see how old he really is - no kid with that much talent would waste 2 years till he was really 18 to enter the draft. darthziggy@opieanthony.com I'm off to Franklin Pierce College in September. Go Ravens! LET'S GO ISLANDERS | ||||
| Sloatsburgh | posted on 08-29-2001 @ 6:29 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00 | quote: That is because white people learned in the 40's to always have their paperwork in order. Believe me, I am not just talking about one country or one race.  42 | ||||
| ErinMoran | posted on 08-29-2001 @ 6:31 PM | | |||
| Hanger-On Registered: May. 01 | So when are they shipping there dirty ass's back??...anyone know?? Ill bring my Magnum  Scott Baios junk!!!! | ||||
| MaynardGKrebs | posted on 08-31-2001 @ 7:38 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Veteran Registered: Jan. 01 | Here's the update....... Little League forfeits Bronx team's victories By ANDRES CALA, Associated Press Last updated: 4:45 p.m., Friday, Aug. 31, 2001 SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Little League star Danny Almonte is 14, not 12 -- a finding today that cost his team its third-place World Series finish. All the victories won by his Bronx team, the Rolando Polino Little League All-Stars, were forfeited, and all its records -- including Almonte's perfect game -- were wiped out. ``Clearly, adults have used Danny Almonte in a most contemptible and despicable way,'' said Stephen D. Keener, president and CEO of Little League Baseball in South Williamsport, Pa. The Bronx league's founder, Rolando Paulino, also was banned for life from any association with Little League, although the team's charter was not revoked. A birth certificate showing the ace pitcher is 12 was found to be false, said Manuel Ramon Morel Cerda, the president of the Dominican Electoral Committee, which is in charge of most public records. The government plans to charge the boy's father, Felipe de Jesus Almonte, with falsifying documents, and was considering charges against the mother, Sonia Rojas Breton, Cerda said. Little League rules prohibit any player born before Aug. 1, 1988, from competing this year. Rojas, who lives in the town of Moca, has a handwritten, photocopied birth certificate that said her son was born April 7, 1989. But Moca's official records office has another birth certificate that said he was born April 7, 1987. Another handwritten document from Dr. Toribio Bencosme Hospital in Moca states that a woman named Rojas gave birth to a boy there on April 7, 1987. Rojas, who says she gave birth to Almonte at home in the nearby town of Jamao, insists all documents but hers are false. Victor Romero of the public records office in Santo Domingo investigated Almonte's birth documents in Moca, about 90 miles north of the capital. He also investigated records from the nearby town of Jamao, where Almonte's mother said he was born. Officials found the birth certificate from Jamao to be false after speaking to the witnesses who had signed the birth certificate. The witnesses denied knowing the family or having signed the birth certificate, Morel said. The town official from Jamao who registered Danny's age as 12 last year has been suspended, he said. ``There are a number of contradictions in the second birth certificate,'' Romero said, referring to the document listing the 1989 date. ``Neither the witnesses, the hospital, nor the local authorities could confirm Almonte was born in Jamao.'' The boy was brought to New York by his father, who has insisted his son was 12. At a news conference earlier today in the Bronx, Paulino said he would abide by the decision. ``I trust all the parents in the league to present original documents,'' said Paulino, who was flanked by team members and parents -- but not the Almontes. ``If the parents lie to the league that is not my problem. I accept the information that the parents gave to me. ``If Danny's father has provided information that is inaccurate, we all feel bad,'' he said in Spanish through a translator. Paulino said he did not know where father and son were, adding that he respects their privacy. Danny Almonte was the most dominating pitcher at the World Series this year, throwing a perfect game in the opener against Apopka, Fla. He struck out the first 15 Apopka batters in the first perfect game in 44 years at the tournament. He followed that with a one-hit shutout in the U.S. semifinals against an Oceanside, Calif., team that came in averaging .333 with five batters at .500 or better. He finished the tournament with 46 strikeouts, giving up only three hits in three starts. A run scored in last inning of his final game was the only run scored on Almonte all summer. Behind Almonte's pitching and a solid defense, the Bronx team went 4-1 at the World Series and finished third. The team's only loss was a rematch against Apopka in which Almonte couldn't pitch because of a rule that prohibits pitchers from starting consecutive games. Almonte became a sensation after throwing 16 strikeouts in the Mid-Atlantic Regional championship against State College. His perfect game only added to his reputation, and major leaguers Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey Jr. both contacted Almonte to wish him luck.  | ||||
| JJ G.O.O.F.B.A.H.G.S. Soldier of Fortune Spec Ops Division | posted on 08-31-2001 @ 7:52 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Feb. 01 | Who cares i knew he was too old once i saw him pitching. Im a pitcher, i know an overage little leauger when i see one. We're all just monkeys!! | ||||
Displaying 1-11 of 11 messages in this thread. |