It’s almost impossible for the Little League World Series to be played without some reference being made to Danny Almonte.
Almonte was the best pitcher to ever compete in the event and easily the most controversial figure to emerge from Williamsport. In three games pitching for his Bronx Little League team at the famed event, Almonte threw a perfect game, no-hitter and 1-hit shutout. He struck out 62 of the 72 batters he faced.
And then it was revealed he was really 14 years old while competing against 11 and 12-year-olds, which explained his 76-mph fastball, absurd slider and overall command.
The story of Almonte has been revisited in a 30 for 30 short produced by ESPN. Like all of ESPN’s 30 for 30 specials, this one is well worth watching.
The short shares a lot of background on Almonte and gives his perspective on what transpired in the summer of 2001. It portrays him as a sympathetic figure who was used by his father and the Bronx Little League director who lied about his age.
In the short, Almonte shares that he only came to the US from the Dominican Republican when he was 12, just two years before he became a national sensation for his dominance at the LLWS. Almonte lived with Rolando Paulino — the man who ran the Little League — and was told by his father, Felipe, to do everything Paulino said. Almonte described that as “hell.”
“Living with Paulino was hell,” Almonte says in the 30 for 30 special. “He never let me do nothing. Like go outside. It was baseball 24/7. Baseball never stopped.”
After being caught for cheating, there was such a media frenzy surrounding Almonte that the then-8th grader said he could not go to school because of all the cameras. He likened it to a reality show.
Almonte also answers the question many of us have wanted to know: did he know that what he was doing was wrong? Almonte claimed to not really know how old the competition was supposed to be. He says it wasn’t until the US championship game that he asked his teammates how old everyone was. And then he finally made the admission, saying he “felt a little guilty.”
Still, Almonte believes the older men — his father and Paulino — took advantage of him. And even if he knew what they were doing was wrong, he says he was raised to always follow the word of his father.
The 30 for 30 short concludes with footage of Almonte returning to the Dominican in 2011 for the first time in 10 years. There he got to see his mom, with whom he was very close, for the first time in years. He also reconciled with his father, who apologized for what happened. Danny said he forgave his father.
After Little League, Almonte went on to play high school ball at James Monroe High School in the Bronx, where he led them to the 2004 and 2006 Public Schools Athletic League championship. He pitched for the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League (independent ball) in 2007, going 0–1, with a 5.29 ERA in six appearances. He eventually made his way to Western Oklahoma State College, where he pitched and played outfield. He starred against the Division 2 junior college competition, batting .497 with 14 home runs and .472 with 18 home runs in his two seasons.
Almonte was never drafted and his pro baseball career ended. In recent years, he has gotten back into the game as an assistant coach in the Bronx, and he still plays in a rec league.
