Youth Sports: Of ringers and things
When Rolando Paulino and Felipe Almonte took it upon themselves to violate the rules of Little League Baseball, they left many victims in their wake.
August 29 was supposed to be a great day for the South Bronx.
As a child I lived in the South Bronx apartment complex known as Concourse Village, which is just a few short blocks up the hill from Yankee Stadium and the Bronx County Courthouse.
Baseball fans from all over the world are familiar with the Bronx Courthouse whether they know it or not. It is seen in every broadcast of a game from Yankee Stadium, and stands watch over the Stadium as Gary Cooper delivers Lou Gehrig's farewell speech in Pride of the Yankees.
My plans were set. I would take the subway ride up to my old neighborhood, and see the Bronx Baby Bombers feted with a mini-parade on the Grand Concourse, stopping at the Courthouse for a ceremony worthy of champions. The excitement was palpable.
The long neglected, and frequently scorned, neighborhood of my youth was getting recognition for something positive and I couldn't have been happier.
A group of young immigrants, mostly from the Dominican Republic, was living the American dream. It was a pure New York story, and I wanted to see it unfold for myself.
But then it happened.
The papers began to confirm rumors of ringers and rules violations. As the evidence piled up, it was clear that I, and many others throughout New York and the world, had been duped. Our 12-year-old phenom, Danny Almonte, wasn't 12 at all. He was a talented 14-year-old, far to developed as a player to have any difficulty with talented kids who really were just 12.
My heart sank. There would be a parade, but not for me. I didn't need to hear the official word from the Dominican Republic. The evidence was overwhelming. Danny was a ringer. As it turns out, so was his battery mate Francisco Pena, the son of former All-Star catcher Tony Pena.
The Rolando Paulino All-Stars cheated and we feel cheated, but as memebers of the public and the media, we are far down the list of victims in this sordid tale.
We lost one of those fairy tale moments, which make sports, at their best, such a joy.
The members of the team from the South Bronx who were legitimately eligible to play in Little League lost much more than we did. They have had what should have been one of the great memories of their young lives tarnished beyond repair.
Every team that played the "Baby Bombers" and wilted under the pressure of facing Almonte's 75+ MPH fastball and his biting curve was also a victim of the venal and cruel machinations of two adults, Rolando Paulino and Felipe Almonte.
Danny Almonte was a victim as well. Sure he knows how old he is, but he is still only 14. His father certainly put him up to this. It wasn't Danny's idea. At 14, how many boys would have the guts to cross their father over an issue such as this and come clean in front of a large portion of the world? Not many is my guess.
The South Bronx was also a victim. The long maligned neighborhood has suffered yet another black eye. This one at the hands of a couple of foolish petty men.
Merrill Lynch has been generously sponsoring the Rolando Paulino Little League, giving the neighborhood a needed shot in the arm and the kids a needed field to call their own. I have my fingers crossed that Almonte and Paulino haven't put Merril's future involvement with Little League Baseball in the Bronx in jeopardy. Hopefully, Merrill Lynch will find another local league in the Bronx and transfer their support to them, if the Rolando Paulino League is stripped of its Little league affiliation.
With a large Dominican population, baseball is a big part of life in the South Bronx, and Merrill Lynch's financial involvement is invaluable to furthering the dreams of the neighborhood's legitimate Little Leaguers.
Little League Baseball must take a good look at itself and find ways to insure that incidents like this are eliminated in the future.
One step, which will help a great deal, and should be implemented right away, would require all prospective players to provide certified proof of attendance in a school within the appropriate Little League district (or in the case of a private school student, one which is within commuting distance of the relevant Little League district). Neither Almonte nor Pena would have had such documentation.
With the adoption of such a simple measure, this entire fiasco likely could have been avoided.
As a child I lived in the South Bronx apartment complex known as Concourse Village, which is just a few short blocks up the hill from Yankee Stadium and the Bronx County Courthouse.
Baseball fans from all over the world are familiar with the Bronx Courthouse whether they know it or not. It is seen in every broadcast of a game from Yankee Stadium, and stands watch over the Stadium as Gary Cooper delivers Lou Gehrig's farewell speech in Pride of the Yankees.
My plans were set. I would take the subway ride up to my old neighborhood, and see the Bronx Baby Bombers feted with a mini-parade on the Grand Concourse, stopping at the Courthouse for a ceremony worthy of champions. The excitement was palpable.
The long neglected, and frequently scorned, neighborhood of my youth was getting recognition for something positive and I couldn't have been happier.
A group of young immigrants, mostly from the Dominican Republic, was living the American dream. It was a pure New York story, and I wanted to see it unfold for myself.
But then it happened.
The papers began to confirm rumors of ringers and rules violations. As the evidence piled up, it was clear that I, and many others throughout New York and the world, had been duped. Our 12-year-old phenom, Danny Almonte, wasn't 12 at all. He was a talented 14-year-old, far to developed as a player to have any difficulty with talented kids who really were just 12.
My heart sank. There would be a parade, but not for me. I didn't need to hear the official word from the Dominican Republic. The evidence was overwhelming. Danny was a ringer. As it turns out, so was his battery mate Francisco Pena, the son of former All-Star catcher Tony Pena.
The Rolando Paulino All-Stars cheated and we feel cheated, but as memebers of the public and the media, we are far down the list of victims in this sordid tale.
We lost one of those fairy tale moments, which make sports, at their best, such a joy.
The members of the team from the South Bronx who were legitimately eligible to play in Little League lost much more than we did. They have had what should have been one of the great memories of their young lives tarnished beyond repair.
Every team that played the "Baby Bombers" and wilted under the pressure of facing Almonte's 75+ MPH fastball and his biting curve was also a victim of the venal and cruel machinations of two adults, Rolando Paulino and Felipe Almonte.
Danny Almonte was a victim as well. Sure he knows how old he is, but he is still only 14. His father certainly put him up to this. It wasn't Danny's idea. At 14, how many boys would have the guts to cross their father over an issue such as this and come clean in front of a large portion of the world? Not many is my guess.
The South Bronx was also a victim. The long maligned neighborhood has suffered yet another black eye. This one at the hands of a couple of foolish petty men.
Merrill Lynch has been generously sponsoring the Rolando Paulino Little League, giving the neighborhood a needed shot in the arm and the kids a needed field to call their own. I have my fingers crossed that Almonte and Paulino haven't put Merril's future involvement with Little League Baseball in the Bronx in jeopardy. Hopefully, Merrill Lynch will find another local league in the Bronx and transfer their support to them, if the Rolando Paulino League is stripped of its Little league affiliation.
With a large Dominican population, baseball is a big part of life in the South Bronx, and Merrill Lynch's financial involvement is invaluable to furthering the dreams of the neighborhood's legitimate Little Leaguers.
Little League Baseball must take a good look at itself and find ways to insure that incidents like this are eliminated in the future.
One step, which will help a great deal, and should be implemented right away, would require all prospective players to provide certified proof of attendance in a school within the appropriate Little League district (or in the case of a private school student, one which is within commuting distance of the relevant Little League district). Neither Almonte nor Pena would have had such documentation.
With the adoption of such a simple measure, this entire fiasco likely could have been avoided.
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