The Bronx Bummer

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Age scams plague Little League competition in the Caribbean region, particularly in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Cuba, where it feeds into the local industry of developing major league players for the U.S. market. But in America, the land of opportunity, perhaps no institution tries to speak more eloquently of getting a chance than Little League Baseball. Girls and boys who won't be good enough for high school ball, never mind the pros, have their turn at bat and also the opportunity to build friendships, learn teamwork, grow. The Danny Almonte case is a contravention of opportunity. What Felipe wanted most, it seems, was a chance for his son to play big-league baseball, and to seize this opportunity, he deprived his son of his boyhood and education. Danny's wrongful place on the team deprived another of a spot. His presence on the mound deprived the teams he faced of a chance to bat against a boy their size. The scandal's wreckage robbed his teammates--and the Bronx--of a moment in the sun.

Finally, back to Danny. He will be deprived in the years to come. If he can recover from the tumult of this episode, he will still be first the kid who got caught back in '01 and only second a remarkable pitcher. "I feel so bad for these kids," Bastone said, stirring his coffee as thunder sounded outside the Yankee Tavern. "Including the kid who was too old."

--With reporting by Amanda Bower and Roy B. White/the Bronx