Danny Almonte, Back on the Scene

Remember Danny Almonte? He was the star pitcher for the Rolando Paulino Baby Bombers, a Little League team, in 2001. He pitched the first perfect Little League game since 1957, and was so good that media outlets started to take notice, with espn.com actually comparing him, a 12 year old, to Randy Johnson.

Except it turned out he wasn't 12. Instead, Almonte's father had lied about his age, and Almonte was actually 14--two years older than the kids he was playing against. It was also revealed that he hadn't attended school for the entire year (and, since Danny didn't speak English, he knew nothing of the phony records his father had submitted regarding his age). In all, it was a pretty sad story.

At the time, I wondered if we would ever hear from Almonte again. Would he become a great pitcher? Did he look so good just because he was playing against kids so much younger than he was, or did he really have the potential to make it?

Looks like he still has some potential. In this article, espn.com reports that now 19, he is ranked the seventh prospect in baseball by USA Today and 43rd by Baseball America. He was also a 2006 All-American and has a scholarship to attend New Mexico Junior College if he decides not to sign with whatever team ends up drafting him this year. Oh, and he just married a 30 year old woman. (I will note that this is considered strange, yet no one bats an eye when 19 year old Lohan dates men over 30.)

Good luck Danny!