Danny Almonte

Seven years ago Danny Almonte became infamous for playing in the 2001 Little League World Series. It was discovered that he was 2 years older than his 12-year-old teammates.

Now, Almonte has reappeared into the spotlight, somewhat, at Western Oklahoma State College in Altus. Danny Almonte does not want to give any interviews, according to his college coach. It's just too much of a distraction. During his successful high school career he was hounded by reporters.

Almonte is originally from the Dominican Republic. He moved to New York, with his father Filipe De Jesus Almonte, and played for the Bronx Little League Club called Rolando Paulino.

Almonte threw the first perfect game in the 44-year history of the tournament where the Paulino All-Stars had a third-place finish in the 2001 series in Williamsport, PA.

Later, it was all over the national news headlines that the written birth certificate, in Danny Almonte's father's possession, was bogus. The Dominican government investigated and found that Almonte was actually 14. So... his perfect game was stricken from the records of Little League Baseball. And the Bronx Little League Club's win total was abolished, also. I remember the news like it was yesterday. There was relentless reporting of this gifted kid who was a couple years too old for the Little League Baseball Teams.

Although this was a scandal for the Club, Danny Almonte remained in the spotlight.

Danny Almonte continued his stardom as the lead pitcher at NYC's James Monroe High School. His record was 34-1, averaging more than 10 strikeouts per game.

Unfortunately, his career didn't exactly take off immediately after high school. He was not among some 1,600 picks in the 2007 draft. Later, Almonte did sign with the Independent Frontier League, but was released soon after. But, due to a clause in his contract, Almonte was allowed to explore opportunities at a junior college a few weeks later. Now he is a student and player at the school.

The head coach at Western, Kurt Russell, said that he has known Danny Almonte since Danny was in the 9th grade. Russell feels that Almonte has great potential and that he can handle pressure since he's performed well already in quite a few pressure situations.

Russell says Almonte is a shy kid who really likes baseball, and Almonte gets along well with all the other guys on the team. He's a hard worker. And, he will work out fine.