Is there any purity left in sports? We have entered a time where even Little Leaguers cheat to get ahead.

That appears to be the case with the now notorious Danny Almonte, who recently K’ed his way through much of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn.

The controversy surrounding this young man is whether or not he is a young man, or merely a boy who can still see the movies at the kiddie price.

Little League rules allow kids to play ball up to the age of 12. Almonte’s Bronx team claims that Almonte was born in 1989, which also happens to be what his birth certificate says. It is what his other birth certificate says that is causing the stink to rise.

Almonte is in America on a visa from the Dominican Republic. He is currently living with his father in New York. About a year ago, Almonte’s father submitted his son’s birth certificate which stated that Almonte was born in 1989. That information was enough to appease the Little League powers-that-be, as they took the information to be legit.

Perhaps nothing else would have ever been mentioned about this kid until he started treating opposing hitters like they were minor nuisances; little kids standing between him and more swimming time at the hotel pool.

Almonte pitched the first perfect game in some 40-odd years in Williamsport, striking out 16 of the 18 batters he faced. That is quite an accomplishment for a 12-year-old, but if indeed Almonte is 14, that accomplishment becomes tattered and torn.

There are probably a handful of 14-year-olds in Iowa who could strike out that many 12-year-olds. It sounds far fetched, but the difference between a twelve and 14-year-old boy can be quite drastic. Those two years are probably one of the most significant growth spurts a boy goes through in his life.

A Davenport, IA. coach, whose team reached the Series, got a chance to see Almonte pitch up close. He described the experience on a local radio program, explaining the only way kids had a chance to hit against Almonte was to bunt, even that wasn’t successful most of the time.

Almonte’s fastball was clocked in the high 70’s, low 80’s, while his breaking ball reached speeds of 65 miles per hour.

Keep one thing in mind. Most 12-year-old’s fastballs don’t reach 65 on a radar gun, let alone the fact the most of these juniors were probably wetting themselves at the sight of an 80-mile-an-hour cheese.

Back to that other birth certificate.

Recently a Sports Illustrated reporter, allocating the resources that big publications have while also working off one of many off-hand comments that there was no way on earth Almonte was 12, dug up some dirt.

It seems that in the Dominican Republic, birth certificates are not issued close to birth, as they are here in the states. In fact, the birth certificate the reporter found was issued five years ago. Yet it is still, supposedly, the authentic document. That certificate is the one that lists Almonte’s birthdate in 1987.

What’s the deal here?

Was the original document wrong? Four years later, the father gets it changed for correctness, just in time for Danny to claim a spot on the Bronx team?

Sooner or later the truth will come out on this issue, but not in time to prevent what looks like a bunch of cheaters from claiming their keys to New York City.

Little League is suppose to be about having fun and getting better at a sport you like. It is not suppose to be about cheating the system and using illegal immigrants to accomplish your goals in the Series. Yes, I said illegal immigrant because apparently Almonte’s visa had expired, but that is another issue entirely.

Believe it or not, Almonte probably doesn’t know what all this controversy is about. In a recent postgame interview, he had to have English questions translated into Spanish.

I honestly think he is a kid having fun pitching baseballs, while the adults around him are obsessed with winning and doing whatever it takes to achieve their goals.

Hopefully for the sake of all the other players on the team, the allegations will prove false. It is not fair to the other players to be accused of cheating. Hopefully integrity still takes precedence in Little League. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t bet on it.

Marcus Charter is a junior in journalism and mass communications from Ames.