Where Are They Now? Danny Almonte, LLWS Cheater

[@nolanjohnbaseball]

“I am 12” ahh moment 😭

[@kylecampbell9255]

First thing I thought of…. In crayon and everything

[@nolanjohnbaseball]

@@kylecampbell9255 he needs his bottle of tequila

[@IamtheDesperado]

He's got documentation 📄 Play ball!

[@adamk1112]

@@IamtheDesperadolmao

[@franckils3524]

@@IamtheDesperadoputs the $10 in his pocket*

[@timyac]

“I am 12 💵

[@MarcusMullins-ec4rf]

Benchwarmers ahh moment

[@clintonkildepsteen3982]

"you smell like beer"

[@kacey0237]

You look like beer 😂​@@clintonkildepsteen3982

[@jeffchariton9133]

Hard take calling him a cheater. Adults are to blame.

[@turdfurgason8476]

He was 14 and 14 years olds can count to 14. 😮

[@Andrewa-17]

@@turdfurgason8476he was most likely forced into playing

[@Pchi427]

He knew he was older. So the Kia boys are all innocent?

[@nichtsistkostenlos6565]

I mean, he cheated and he knew what was going on. The adults are cheaters too and should definitely take majority share of the blame, doesn't mean he's not also a cheater. He's not 5, you're pretty damn aware of what cheating is when you're 14.

[@bradenculver7457]

@@Pchi427 you really jumped to a 14 year older lying that he’s 12 as the equivalent of stealing cars? Wtf are we even doing here…

[@yakinyisrael8308]

Integrity. Is what is needed in these stories. Who is this guy? A 14 year old surrounded by adults is a cheater. Where are the adults? Oh i don't know, blame a kid. What a shame!

[@renecarrero7072]

@brianelizardo6375yes the kid knew how old he was, but the people organizing his team is far guiltier. Don’t blame the child for being told to go along with this scam. Trust me there is no way the 13/14 year old was the mastermind behind this entire endeavor. The only thing he’s guilty of is being too afraid to say no.

[@realcoach2023]

The Manager of that team should be banned for LIFE. Scammers

[@Siege924]

He was. As a matter of fact, every adult affiliated with that team has a lifetime ban.

[@merrittsudduth3114]

Is it just me or does that kid look like jaun soto

[@quinnbrown_golf]

Agreed 😂

[@Natey11]

true

[@sarahwolfe1154]

You saying all Dominicans look the same pal?

[@Bigmikejovann23]

Though the same thing lol

[@pcharl01]

It's been awhile but I was thinking Bartolo Colon. Might be off though.

[@randy2152]

That’s Juan Soto

[@extraterrestrial6614]

I went to HS with him. He was like a mini celebrity at school. He threw about 90 mph in HS. Wasn’t a worker therefore we knew he wouldn’t have made it.

[@meangreeng13]

I was not expecting you to say the SI Minors😂. I lived like 30 min from where they played in Marion Illinois. I actually got to throw out the first pitch at a game one of the games

[@LeSunshine]

The Miners are actually super cool. On top of Danny Almonte they also had Tanner Roark at one point. I was so sad when the team dissolved a couple years ago😢

[@meangreeng13]

@@LeSunshine they were actually pretty darn good for as short of a run as they had

[@FlitzSpitz]

That’s where I went to high school. And school at SIU. Do I know you🤔😂

[@meangreeng13]

@@FlitzSpitz I grew up in Mt Vernon

[@FlitzSpitz]

@@meangreeng13 prolly not then

[@MrBoomer1515]

His age should have been obvious when he was driving teammates to the ballpark and buying them beer!

[@Est.1998]

“Heees got documentation. Play ball!!”

[@bryceharvey4456]

He identified as an 12 year old kid, problem solve.

[@henrydesmond6798]

This is written in green Crayon!

[@niceanology]

Dammmm. Thx for the update... I forgot about that kid.. back than I thought he would make it

[@yankquinn9992]

I grew up in "the hood" and every "great" athlete was 1-2 years older than the rest. They all bottomed out in college though where the age difference didn't matter as much. I remember one kid Taj used to drive to school in the 8th grade

[@edgall5696]

His parents and his coaches are the cheater

[@JonahNeff]

He cheated. But given the profound moral failings of the adults and role models in his life it's hard to pin the blame primarily on the 14 year.

[@nichtsistkostenlos6565]

Yes, but so is he. The adults are clearly worse than him for sure, but at 14, you know you're cheating. 14 is the starting age for high school students.

[@ryanbeattie2741]

@@JonahNeffdid he know ?

[@dumpstercracklin7078]

Well at least when he played at southern Illinois he could finally tell people he played baseball as a miner without lying :o

[@user-kd4xl2dq1c]

When I was 14 no one could convince me that cheating like this was OK.

[@Lance_p84]

We all new that mofo wasn’t 12 😂 He had a whole family back home

[@Shieldwolf27]

My cousin played for the Miners and was eventually picked up by the Yankees. Win a championship with GCL Yankees. Brought up to the Tampa Yankees but didn’t play during their playoff run, and was released the following year due to injury.

[@ConleySmooge]

Still not as bad as men playing against women.

[@MustangMike012]

Can you imagine telling people you thought you were 12 😂😂😂

[@skywizard3148]

Is that kid too old? No, his daughter said he's going to be 13 in 2 weeks.

[@Pchi427]

He knew. Don’t let a cheater get away with anything.

[@stevelittle1039]

Majority of the time kids have no clue what’s going on.. birth certificates of foreign children get altered a lot. It’s done at a very young age. Try to give their child an athletic advantage. It’s a lot more common than you think… I would bet Heavily On That there are Dominican players in the major leagues that are younger then there actual age is

[@5starJayke]

My dad played him and said since he was so tall and his stride was so long that by the time the ball left his hands it was almost unhittable

[@briannat1086]

HE KNEW he was too old. Make excuses for him?

[@heisenberg8047]

Dude bagged my groceries last week

[@wiscowoody2716]

Saw Danny a few years ago playing in a semi-fast softball national tournament in Wisconsin.

[@mikemendoza3500]

He was 14. Let’s maybe put a little blame on the coaches.

[@ayoitzsergio]

I played against Danny a bunch actually. Dude had legit talent. And i remember playing him right after hs and his like 34 year old wife killing it on the cowbell (Christopher Walken would’ve been proud). You can’t really blame the kids. They didn’t know what they were doing and more than half of them barely spoke english. That coach messed up a lot of childhoods. Beating the kids on teams who were playing fairly and forcing other kids to cheat and be quiet about it for what reason? It’s not like you’re Aaron Boone, you’re not getting huge checks to coach a Bronx little league team.

[@dannyc3774]

If this was in 2024, all he would have to do is identify as 12

[@wabilkhan6601]

He should have just carried his high school baseball team and get drafted straight outta high school instead!

[@justice77justice]

I myself being a Latino from Bronx did not like that he was cheating It's disgraceful Why cheat Just play with the people your age

[@mneri84]

So that’s the inspiration for the classic scene in the benchwarmers.

[@robertabrams8562]

Oh wow, I remember this scandal! He was really taller, and stronger than most 12yr olds, so his abilities raised suspicions…

[@deanhovey8348]

As a 14 year old really not that good 2 years is a huge difference between 12 and 14

[@nyjets2392]

Rolando paulino team became the boricuas travel team years later, we beat them in the championship 14u

[@dukes1993724]

Now he slings drugs for the cartel through ports of entry

[@andujo211]

I cant stand cheaters.

[@BUSTER.BRATAMUS]

Think about the teams that lost to this clown in the LLWS? They might have won the whole thing, we will never know,, their dreams were crushed by the cheaters.

[@russellridge8623]

Should be deported

[@Oogiddyboogway]

All I heard was “I am 12” and gasolina started playing 😂

[@williamabreu8098]

El caso de Dany Almonte , estaba passdo de edad para jugar esa categotia . Fue jn total fracaso su trajectoria

[@paulnilsen4335]

KARMA! Assistant to Assistants Assistant!

[@NoWorriesTJ]

The irony that he played for the southern Illinois "Minors"😂

[@dza420]

What they did to the Oceanside team is criminal.

[@operaguy1]

Some adult gave him the green light to live a lie and thereby damage other humans. Is that adult in jail?

[@downtownkiller1716]

Liga Rolando Paulino I remember the last time I went to NY to vacation. Rolando Paulino it’s self pick my dad and me to the airport 😂 He use to work with my dad before create his own league and do this cheat 🙁

[@decepticonleader316]

When his wife showed up with his kids, that was a red flag.

[@ericmazor7046]

His fellow teammates blamed him. He knew how old he was.

[@jasonsperry2293]

Adults especially his parents should be in jail damn

[@KingjsAsmr]

Jail? Not that serious bud

[@theholymackerel072]

LOL they threw a grown man in with children to absolutely own them.

[@ThaGreatKingLeo]

Calling him a cheater is a bit harsh. He didnt know any better than what was told to him as a child by adults. And we were unaware of the birth certificate issues many foreign countries have

[@gabriellepe7839]

Poor boy was just a victim, totally not a cheater. There is a possibility he did not know what was happening.

[@kahunamoe22]

Did he even know? Did he even speak English at the time?

[@jupena]

He did. He was a dominican American born in the Bronx.

[@brianhodgman3542]

What does speaking English have to do with knowing your age/knowing rules about age??

[@Captain_Wavy_Jones]

@@brianhodgman3542yeah that’s actually a really good point. If your mom tells you are 5 and were born a certain year. You wouldn’t know that information to be false until you saw your actual birth certificate. I don’t think I saw my birth certificate until I graduated high school.

[@kahunamoe22]

@@Captain_Wavy_Jones ya if you know only a little bit of a language it's really easy to be placed into a situation where you don't know all the facts or information. I was by no means making some sort of racial or xenophobic comment. I was saying he was taken advantage of by adults. I seriously doubt he was like "hey mom what if I pretend to be 12"

[@kahunamoe22]

@@brianhodgman3542 cause the rules are in English?

[@EVSTravels]

Saw Danny pitch in highschool...he was a stud

[@josephblaisdell4016]

You gotta blame the coaches and his parents for allowing this can’t blame the kid. He probably didn’t know any better. This used to happen in basketball all the time I used to see kids parents lie on applications so their kid would play in a league lower than theirs it’s terrible.

[@fjccommish]

I hate sloppy talkers. "...he shruck out..."

[@johnnichols3113]

At least he's still involved in the game and is now giving back.

[@Larsenne]

If he was 14 then... And he went to highschool in the Bronx, was he in highschool in the Bronx while he was playing in the little league world series? Or did he move there after living in the DR

[@Nobes2024]

thankful you didnt show my strikeout lol we played against him in the US semi's dude threw very fast for a "12" yo. lol

[@altonmatthews8219]

Blame the adults who facilitated this not him

[@BK_718]

Dude ate too many Platanos and was like forget this 😂

[@chuck6469]

Cheaters never win , winners never cheat

[@Lsthnbrd]

“Maria!!!!”

[@mortinakathelegend7272]

Knew a kid in travel ball who was playing down 4 years... Playing 9u as a 12/13 year old is insane. And the worst part is he wasn't even that good. Threw harder than everyone but that was about it. Crazy...

[@rojohomebuilders]

Interesting because in 2009 he was my roommate up in Alaska when we played in the Alaska Baseball League for the Mat-Su Miners. I think you got your story wrong. He ended up an all American in juco that year as a pitcher and outfielder. He did get hurt though and sent home before finishing the season. It’s too bad for him because we won the league that year got rings and Baseball America ranked us the 7th best team in America that summer. Definitely the greatest summer of my life (que The sandlot music). Still have my ring and an uncut card stock with everyone’s autograph on it. Team photos were taken after Danny left.

[@juanbaloney4269]

What are you smoking?

[@01nmuskier]

72 batters has to be the longest perfect game ever! 24 innings!!!

[@user-pk8og8dx2g]

From what I know about this story is Danny didn’t even speak English and that an adult lied and said he was 12 so I don’t think that actually makes him a cheater cause he wasn’t in aware of what was happening

[@orangeflaws8088]

One of my old high school baseball coaches was on the California team that lost to them

[@walterp5714]

That is the part that most people don’t talk about. All of the teams that lost to his team and were denied the once in a lifetime opportunity to even get to play in the little league World Series

[@CrazyStuffTrickshots]

Guys its not the kids fault he spoke Spanish and didn’t know how old you have to be and couldn’t tell people he was 14 so he just played without knowing

[@LeskoBrandon59]

We dun need no stinking rules .

[@LeoWhalen1933]

I believe they lost every game he didn't pitch😂😂😂

[@johncast9565]

if he gave up 2 hits, its not a perfect game.

[@GiraffeNeckMarc]

He gave up two hits for the whole tournament, he threw a perfect game still

[@narcissist11]

He’s not the cheater. All parents that knew or were involved are the cheaters!

[@jalenking810]

Out of the millions that have played baseball growing up, he made it into the 1 percent that play high level baseball in college. He should be very proud of what he accomplished

[@terrance-sc6jo]

Certainly adults did him no favors as a kid

[@Cbcw76]

Name all of his adult 'guides'. Criminals, all.

[@gaetanodetorrice5555]

I heard he identified himself as a 12-year-old. That's why he was able to pitch.😂😂😂😂.

[@rodgachelin5998]

Didn't he also father a child from a grown woman when he was still a teenager?

[@iamthefuss934]

“I am 12”

[@palainagasper6126]

Bro was 2 years older and was probably manipulated to thinking it was ok by coaches and parents . Mfs swing up to varsity all the time in high school this is called competition

[@Bobthe0strich]

The song gasolina playing in the background 🤣

[@anthonygenovese7578]

Full mad bum arm action going on there

[@mswallow817]

I wouldn’t call him the cheater. His coach or his parents would be more accurate.

[@georgeolschewski4651]

IIRC, there was a Law & Order episode about him.

[@Thomas-ej9fz]

His coach is the one and only KENNY POWERS !!!😂

[@GotCMilk]

Bro when I heard 1987 I thought he was gonna say “he wasn’t 12 he was 32” or some shit 😂

[@3005lives4you]

"Here's my birth certifio."😂

[@Brian-dg3gh]

He should have just said he was a girl and he could be professional right now.

[@prim0192]

Last time I saw him he was bussing tables at a restaurant in the Bronx

[@AsianVideoGamer]

Don't hate the kid, some grown ups put them there in that situation

[@BiqBoii27]

He plays fast pitch softball ball between Paterson & The Bronx I see him all the time.

[@NickBrzezniak]

when i heard 1987 i was thinking he was a grown man 😂

[@user-fz1en8ew9z]

I would call his parents and coach cheaters. But it’s a problem in baseball.

[@cerealissoup84]

why is every comment a bot I remember seeing the perfect game on KZbin, I never knew he was too old.

[@ellaandersen7090]

he was 14 and he didn’t know how to speak English. He didn’t even know that he was playing with 12-year-olds

[@bigprincefielder]

For better context, he didn’t know that he was cheating as the adults lied about his age. Why? Because he hardly knew English so he just assumed he was playing versus other 14 year olds

[@albertjordan2808]

NOT HIS FAULT!! IT WAS THE ADULTS

[@bobaboey]

He didnt know every other player was younger? No other kid had a birthday? Suuuure. He knew but didnt say anything.

[@treylem3]

Cheating is bad sportsmanship. Bad sportsmanship sukcx