Almonte and the draft
Danny Almonte’s college baseball career came to an end Tuesday the JUCO Division II Championships in Enid.
For those that don’t recall the name, Almonte is the kid from the 2001 Little League World Series who was found to be 14 years old, when he really was supposed to be 12.
The result was a national scandal that highlighted the sometimes unbelievable things parents will do to get their kid ahead in the rough and tumble world of youth sports.
Fast forward eight years later and Almonte is a sophomore at Western Oklahoma State in Altus.
The Pioneers ended their tournament run with a loss to LB Wallace and since Almonte has already played semi-pro ball, he’s not eligible to make his way to an NCAA Division I or II school.
So now Almonte enters the draft pool. According to a piece by the NY Daily News, most scouts don’t think Almonte will be drafted, largely because of….get this… his age.
Almonte is 22 and is competing against 18 and 19 year olds which helps to make sense of his incredible stats as a pitcher and outfielder.
Truth is, Almonte is a great player, but at 22, he’s already a little long in the tooth to start his minor league career.
There is also the baggage of the 2001 scandal. Almonte didn’t do himself any favors with a two-year silence at Western.
At the player’s request, Pioneers coach Kurt Russell successfully shielded Almonte from interview requests from both media in Oklahoma and New York. In a way, it was probably the right move, at least for his first year in school.
But in a way it also hurt Almonte. He never got a chance to tell his side of the story as an adult which could have only helped him. What’s more, those around Almonte, fans of the team, people in the community, are also extremely wary of talking about him.
There are no negatives here. By all accounts, Almonte has grown up to be a regular college kid who happens to have an interesting past. The fact he ended up in Altus is interesting. The fact he developed into a standout player is even more interesting, and a huge credit to Almonte. No shame in talking about any of it.
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I never blamed the kid for what happened. It was the parents. Teaching your kid to cheat at an early age usually comes back to haunt the kid. I hope in this case it didn’t. Doesn’t sound like it did, but they could have let the kid tell his side and say he was doing what he was told by the adults. The adults are the problem here, not the kids.