DANNY ALMONTE

When Danny Almonte had his perfect game and no hitter, nobody (ESPN, CNN) mention that he was dominican. at that moment he was an american heroe. now, after the scandal, they found out he is Dominican.

In the ESPN coverage that I saw (devoted solely to the young pitcher), it was stated over and over that he was a Dominican ("...a country known for growing sugar cane and baseball players..." or something similar)

The scandal is not new either, as this has been in the news since the beginning of the tournament...

m

1. He received an electric razor for Christmas

2. He has a wife and two kids

3. He uses Geritol

4. He is registered to vote as a "balaguerito."

5. Insert your own wisecrack here.

It is very sad, if is true what happened to Danny, do any ne have tought about how this poor child can be affected? It should be the father fault if he did something so crooked like that and it seems to be premeditated. I do not think however that the Pulino league should loose their charter as it has been predicted they were fooled also,and the other little kids should not loose their title over the foult of the chitting father. Shame on him.Some of our people are like my abuela said "la vaca prieta "cuando no la Cagn a la entrada la Cgn a la salida.

As far as I know, we are still running under the assumption that he is actually 12 yrs old. If, however, it were established that he was 14, of COURSE they should lose their medal!

Should we change the saying to "Cheaters always win"? Perhaps Dominican culture dictates that those that cheat get to keep the spoils of their treachery, but not where I come from. As sad as it would be for his teammates to be punished for his father's lack of good judgement, what of those players that lost their one chance to hang a medal from their neck in the junior world series?

marc

IF YOU WATCHED ANY OF THE GAMES AND LISTENED TO THE COMENTARY, IT WAS NOT SECRET THAT DANNY WAS A DOMINICAN, PLAYING FOR A TEAM BASED IN THE BRONX. THE DOMINICAN FLAGS WERE FLYING HIGH IN THE STANDS. IT WAS LIKE PEDRO WAS PITCHING IN BOSTON.

Oh! give me a break.Through out the their comentary they kept saying "This is an American Story an American story."And when they talked about the sacandal they didn't mention Danny's name they said " this team is so good, that opposing teams have contractracted private investigaters to comfirm the ages of the team members.
Is like I isaid in my previous post, "There is now way for us (immagrants) to be acccepted as "Americans." If we (whom look spanish) claim to be American we are refered to as wanna bes. If we wave our flags to show our ancestry, we are told to put them down because "you are in America now."

This whole Almonte mess is fiasco for the Dominican and little league in general. His parent's are the primarily culprits, but he is not blameless. I asked my ten year old son if he could do something like that, and not only did he understand it was wrong he wouldn't do it. At 14 and a teenager he needs to shoulder the blame too! It also appears his brother on last years team also was too old! I do not feel any of the Almontes, but I do feel great sorrow for his own team he betrayed and all the other good little league teams from the Mid Atlantic and elsewhere who were cheated of their dreams to be in the little league world series. How can they be ever compensated for their loss. And the little league itself knowing all this stuck its head in the mud and ignored this until proof positive presented itself. What were they thinking - obviously not much. Every time it cam up it was a racial thing. Well I don't care what race you are - you do not let kids be cheated!! Shame on all of them!!

Latest "update" was on NBC News this AM. Danny and his father are both "illegales",as they entered the US.on tourist visas about 1 year ago.Danny has not entered school since arriving in the US.More time to work on his fast ball I guess!

Criss

I just read this at noon, looks like his really is 14 and the Dominican officials are admitting it. Funny thing was that this had a picture of him accepting the key to the city.

Dominican Republic: Little League pitcher Almonte 14
August 31, 2001 Posted: 12:22 PM EDT (1622 GMT)

Danny Almonte, left, accepts his key to the city from Mayor Rudy Giuliani at New York City Hall

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SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (CNN) -- Dominican Republic officials said Friday that Little League pitcher Danny Almonte's real age is 14, not 12.

Little League Baseball announced Thursday that it would accept the final decision of the government of the Dominican Republic to determine the age of Almonte after reports that the youth may have been too old to participate.

League officials are debating whether the boy's team should be stripped of its third place World Series title.

Records uncovered by Sports Illustrated in the Dominican Republic indicate that Almonte, whose 70-plus mph fastballs turned heads and dominated opposing batters during the series, is 14, two years older than Little League rules allow.

The news prompted the Little League to announce Monday that it would investigate the issue.