Little League: Bronx Team Forefeits All

Aug. 31 -- Little League Baseball today stripped the third-place finisher in this year's Little League World Series of all its victories after the team's star pitcher was confirmed to be 14 — too old to be eligible.

The league said it accepted a Dominican Republic official's finding that pitcher Danny Almonte was born in the Caribbean nation in 1987, not 1989 as claimed in a handwritten document provided by the boy's parents. The age limit for Little League is 12.

All of the games played by Almonte's team from the New York City borough of the Bronx have been declared forfeit, said Stephen D. Keener, president and CEO of Little League Baseball in South Williamsport, Pa., in a news conference.

Almonte himself would not be punished, Keener said, and would be eligible to play in a league for older boys. But the coach of his Rolando Paulino Little League All Stars team has been indefinately suspended from the Little League organization, he said.

"Clearly, adults abused Danny Almonte and his teammates in a most contemptible and despicable way. Their actions are reprehensible," he said. "We are certainly saddened and angry that we were deceived. In fact, millions of Little Leaguers around the world were deceived, as well as the Little League organization and the governments of the United States and the Dominican Republic."

The announcement probably provided little consolation to the tournament team from Oceanside, Calif., which was knocked out of competition at the U.S. semifinals in a 1-0, 16-strikeout game pitched by Almonte.

Father Faces Charges

In a statement read in the capital of Santo Domingo today, a Dominican Republic official said that despite the presence of two birth certificates claiming different dates of birth for the boy, an investigative team had determined Almonte was born on April 7, 1987.

"Absolutamente falsa," — absolutely false — is how he characterized a birth certificate saying Almonte is 12 years old.

Almonte's mother continues to contend her son is 12. And at a news conference in New York today, before the league announced its decision, Rolando Paulino, founder and head coach of the Rolando Paulino All-Stars, argued he was treated unfairly.