Danny Almonte

Almonte threw a no-hitter in the 2001 Mid-Atlantic Regional finals against State College, Pennsylvania, sending his team to the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. With his high leg kick and a fastball that reached a top speed of 76 miles per hour (122 km/h)—the equivalent, for that distance, of a 102 mph (164 km/h) major-league fastball)[1]—the 5-foot-8-inch (1.73 m) Danny soon became a sensation. His imposing frame won him the nickname "Little Unit," a nod to Randy Johnson, nicknamed "Big Unit".

In a round-robin game four days later, Almonte threw the first perfect game in the Little League World Series since 1979,[lower-alpha 1] against the team from Apopka, Florida. However, his team was defeated by the same Florida team in the U.S. championship game—Almonte could not pitch in the championship game under Little League rules, as he had pitched a complete game the day before.

Almonte completed the tournament with 62 strikeouts (out of 72 batters faced), giving up only three hits in three starts, and only one unearned run.[4] His team, nicknamed "the Baby Bombers" because they played in the shadow of Yankee Stadium, was the feel-good story of the tournament, and were honored before a New York Yankees game shortly after the Series. They also received the key to the city from Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Almonte's imposing appearance and command on the mound, as well as the velocity of his fastball, led to rumors that he was older than 12 years old, the age limit for Little League Baseball. A team from Staten Island hired a private investigator to look into the ages of the entire team. A similar investigation was conducted by a team from Pequannock Township, New Jersey. Neither turned up any evidence that the players were too old. Rolando Paulino, the league president, adamantly insisted that Almonte had been born on April 7, 1989. Paulino was initially backed by Little League and Dominican officials, who said the Baby Bombers had followed all proper procedures regarding age verification. Officials at Little League headquarters even took the unusual step of checking each of the player documents due to the rumors surrounding the team.[5] Little League officials had increased scrutiny of player eligibility after the 1992 Series, in which the champions from Zamboanga City in the Philippines were stripped of their title due to a large number of out-of-district and overage players.

Reporters from Sports Illustrated went to the civil records building in Moca two weeks after the end of the 2001 Series. They discovered a notation in the birth ledger showing that in 1994, Felipe Almonte had registered his son's birth date as April 7, 1987, at Dr. Toribio Bencosme Hospital—which would have made him 14 years old at the time of the 2001 Series. It was common for Dominican parents to wait years before registering the birth of a child.[5] Their report, posted on the magazine's website just before being published, triggered a full investigation by Little League, even as Almonte and his teammates were being feted in the Bronx. Almonte's mother, Sonia Rojas Breton, owned a handwritten birth certificate saying that he had been born at home in Jamao with the help of a midwife in 1989. She had registered Danny's 1989 birth date in 2000.

Both of Almonte's parents, though separated, insisted their son was born in 1989, condemning the other documents as false. Felipe Almonte appeared on Good Morning America at the time of the investigation, proclaiming his son's innocence.

As part of Dominican officials' investigation, Victor Romero, head of the national public records office, interviewed the witnesses whose signatures appeared on the 1989 birth certificate. They both denied knowing Danny's parents, let alone signing the certificate. On August 31, Romero announced that Danny had been born in 1987.

As a result, Danny Almonte was retroactively declared ineligible, and the Baby Bombers had to forfeit all their wins in tournament play.[6] All of their records were removed from the books, and the team was required to demonstrate compliance with all regulations before entering the 2002 tournament. Felipe was banned from Little League competition for life. Paulino was also banned, since Little League rules make the league president responsible for player eligibility. Dominican prosecutors filed criminal charges against Felipe for falsifying a birth certificate. Danny, who did not speak English at the time, apparently knew nothing about the falsified documents and was cleared of wrongdoing. Little League president Stephen Keener said that Danny and his teammates had been "used ... in a most contemptible and despicable way" and that "millions of Little Leaguers around the world were deceived." ESPN's Jim Caple called Felipe "the worst stereotype of the Little League parent sprung to life."[7] Danny's godmother later begged forgiveness, saying that "we had to commit this little fraud" to give Danny a chance to compete in a tournament as significant as the Little League World Series.[8]

About the same time, New York City child welfare officials discovered that Danny had not been enrolled in school for the 2000–01 year—which would be a violation of state law, and grounds for placing him in foster care. Danny's registration listed him as attending Public School 70 in the Bronx. However, Dominican school officials said they had records that Danny had actually attended school in the Dominican Republic until June 15. This would have made him ineligible for the Little League World Series even if he had actually been 12 years old. Little League rules require a player to have appeared in at least half of his team's games by June 15 in order to be eligible for the all-star team that competes in the tournament.[9] Danny then enrolled at Public School 52 in the Bronx in September.[8]