Danny Almonte

About Danny Almonte

Danny Almonte Rojas (born April 7, 1987 in Moca, Dominican Republic) is a former Little League baseball pitcher, the subject of a media circus in 2001. Considered a phenomenon as he led his Bronx, New York team to third place in the 2001 Little League World Series, Almonte was revealed to have actually been two years too old to play Little League baseball. Although there were many allegations during the 2001 Series, the truth was not revealed until weeks later.

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 75 mph fastball (the equivalent of a 97 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.