The Ace

February 27, 2023

Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The newsletter that’s a little bit like Zack Greinke.

We never stop surprising you.

Let's dive in.

Most of us tend to think of Little League as the purest form of baseball, but it has had a fair share of controversy.

The Little League World Series at South Williamsport is a massive event - way bigger than your average MLB game.

Crowds of up to 40,000+ show up to experience the games in person, and millions more watch on TV.

That kind of exposure is super valuable, especially to a kid trying to get noticed by scouts.

And in 2001, Danny Almonte had everyone’s attention.

He played for the Rolando Paulino All-Stars out of Bronx, NY.

They almost didn’t even make it to the LLWS, but in the game that sent them to South Williamsport, Danny Almonte threw a no-hitter.

That was just an appetizer.

In his first game at the LLWS, Almonte faced the team from Apopka, FL and threw a perfect game.

He struck out the first 15 guys he faced.

Throughout the series, 46 of the 72 outs Almonte recorded on the mound were K’s, and the kid hit over .450.

The Rolando Paulino All-Stars ended up placing third, but they were still treated like heroes.

Rudy Giuliani (Mayor of NY at the time) even gave Almonte the key to the city.

All this is super impressive for a 12 year old.

Thing is, Danny Almonte wasn’t actually 12.

Shortly after the ’01 LLWS, his birth certificate came out and shit hit the fan.

The documents showed that he was actually 14 - PLUS, he hadn’t even played in enough games to qualify for playing in the playoffs.

The cherry on top?

Danny and his dad Felipe’s tourist visas were expired.

All of the team’s games were forfeited.

Felipe and Rolando were banned from Little League for life.

In the end, the adults surrounding Danny Almonte failed him badly; his reputation followed him throughout his career.

He went to Western Oklahoma, and despite hitting .472 with 18 home runs and going 9-0 on the mound, he was STILL undrafted.

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

Guido signed with the Red Sox in '59, and spent seven years in the minors living on a prayer.

In '66, he made his big-league debut with the Sox, but struggled and was sent back down after only six appearances.

He was traded to the Kansas City Athletics and played a handful of games for them.

Unfortunately, that was the only year he made it to the show.

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites:

That's it for today. Tomorrow we're back at it like a bad habit. See ya!

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