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Age-old debate Almonte's mom maintains that son is 12 years old
Updated: Thursday August 30, 2001 8:16 AM
MOCA, Dominican Republic (AP) -- The government of the baseball-driven Dominican Republic dispatched a public records expert to this remote farming town Wednesday on a quest to determine, once and for all, whether Danny Almonte is too old for Little League. The search entails thumbing through books of paper birth records, verifying the identity numbers of the witnesses who signed them, tracking down and interviewing the people who notarized the documents and hunting for other any other birth records. Danny -- the star pitcher whose contested age could cost his New York team third place in the Little League World Series -- lived in until last year in Moca, where his trophies clutter his mother's small house. He was born here, but many wonder when. "We have sent a delegate to Moca to verify whether there are two different birth certificates," said Ramon Reyes, a spokesman for the national public records office. "We will evaluate who registered the documents to determine which of the two is false." The government was expected to announce its findings Thursday. Along with the gold-plated baseball trophies and newspaper clippings about her son, Sonia Rojas Breton has a handwritten photocopied birth certificate that says he was born April 7, 1989. Ten blocks from her house, the town's official records office has another birth certificate that says Danny was born April 7, 1987.
In addition, a handwritten document obtained by the New York Daily News from Dr. Toribio Bencosme Hospital in Moca states that a Rojas gave birth to a boy in the hospital on April 7, 1987. Rojas, who says she gave birth to Danny at home with the help of a midwife, insists all documents but hers are false. "I gave birth to him in my own house," Rojas told The Associated Press on Tuesday at her home in Moca, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) north of Santo Domingo. "I know where and when he was born, regardless of what people say." The handwritten hospital record, seen by an AP reporter on Wednesday, is in a tattered school notebook and lists the names of 30 other women who gave birth the same day. It is not notarized, nor is it signed by a hospital official. "According to hospital records, he was born in 1987," said Fernando Tejada, the hospital's director. To further confuse things, an AP reporter was shown a birth certificate for Danny's older brother. Danny's mother says he is 14, but the birth certificate says he was born Dec. 15, 1985, making him nearly 16-years-old. The government official who was sent to investigate the records, Victor Romero, spent much of Wednesday copying the records and sending them back to the main office in Santo Domingo. Last year, Danny moved with his father to the Bronx, in New York City, and began playing Little League baseball. He threw the first perfect game in the Little League World Series since 1957 before his team was defeated by Apopka, Florida, for the U.S. championship. Danny finished the tournament in South Williamsport, Pa., on Sunday, with 46 strikeouts, giving up only three hits in three starts. The only run scored on him all summer came in the inning of his final game.
Rumors about Danny's age plagued the team throughout the tournament, and Little League coaches in two communities hired investigators to find proof that Bronx players were ineligible, to no avail. Little League officials didn't question Danny's age until Monday, when Sports Illustrated published a report saying Danny's father, Felipe de Jesus Almonte, had registered his son's birth twice. It said the earlier record showed a 1987 birth date and the later one showed 1989 -- the same evidence an AP reporter found Tuesday. On ABC's Good Morning America, de Jesus said Wednesday he doesn't understand how the two birth records could be different. Through an interpreter, he said he is not trying to cheat anyone and insisted his son is 12. "I registered him only one time," de Jesus said, adding he did it in 2000. If documents prove Danny is 14 years old -- not 12 -- Little League spokesman Lance Van Auken said his team likely would have to forfeit its last victory. In 1992, a similar incident occurred. The Philippines won the final game in a Little League World Series but the team was then stripped of their title for using overage and ineligible players. The case has stirred a frenzy in the Dominican Republic, which has produced such greats as Sammy Sosa and Pedro Martinez. Known for baseball, the Caribbean country is also notable for its poor record keeping: Nearly 25 percent of children over age 5 lack proper birth certificates, according to UNICEF. The lack of adequate records and prospect of lucrative baseball contracts creates an atmosphere vulnerable to fraud -- although most of the cases involve players accused of exaggerating their age to join the major leagues earlier. "Families in the Dominican Republic expect to generate income from their children's baseball future," said Pablo Peguero, the Los Angeles Dodgers supervisor of baseball operations in the Dominican Republic. Major league teams are prohibited from signing players before their 16th birthday. The Dodgers signed Dominican third baseman Adrian Beltre in 1994. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig ruled in December 1999 that the team had recruited him before his 16th birthday and altered documents to make the signing appear legal under baseball rules. Other controversies involving Dominican players include Rafael
Furcal, signed last year by the Braves as a 19-year-old when he was
really 22, and Wilson Betemit, signed in 1996 when he was 14.
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