Danny Almonte - Little League Phenomenon

Little League Phenomenon

In 2000, Danny moved to the Bronx, where he began playing Little League baseball. His father, Felipe, who had moved to the United States six years earlier, had begun a youth baseball league in Moca that still bears his name.

With his high leg kick and a fastball that reached a top speed of 75 miles per hour (the equivalent, for that distance, of a 98 mph major-league fastball), the 5-foot-8 Danny soon became a sensation. His imposing frame won him the nickname "Little Unit," a nod to Randy "Big Unit" Johnson. He threw a no-hitter in the 2001 Mid-Atlantic Regional finals against State College, Pennsylvania, sending his team to the Little League World Series.

In a round-robin game four days later, Danny also threw the first perfect game in the Little League World Series since 1957, against the team from Apopka, Florida. However, his team was defeated by the same Florida team in the U.S. championship game (Almonte could not pitch in the championship game under Little League rules, as he had pitched a complete game the day before). He finished the 2001 tournament, held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, with 62 strikeouts (out of 72 batters faced), giving up only three hits in three starts, and only one unearned run. His team, nicknamed "the Baby Bombers" because they played in the shadow of Yankee Stadium, was the feel-good story of the Little League World Series, and were honored before a New York Yankees game shortly after the series. They also received the key to the city from Mayor Rudy Giuliani.