(AP)
Danny Almonte is back on a baseball field smiling, that same infectious smile America first got to know nine years ago this summer, back in the Little League World Series with the Rolando Paulino All-Stars.
So much has changed for Almonte since then.
Everything he accomplished that one summer with Rolando Paulino — including a third-place finish in the Little League World Series — being wiped from the record books when it was revealed he was illegally overage.
There was his faded major-league baseball dreams after a sterling two-year career at Western Oklahoma State College.
And his brief marriage as a 19-year-old high-school senior to 30-year-old Rosy Perdomo (they have since separated).
For the time being, Almonte is no longer a player. At 23 years old, he is in his first year as an unpaid assistant coach for Bronx powerhouse James Monroe, the program he led to city championships in 2004 and 2006.
Yet here he is, smiling.
“He wants our dreams to come true,” Monroe center fielder Melvin Garcia said. “He’s always telling us, ‘You could do the things I haven’t done.’ “
Almonte doesn’t like to talk about the past. He won’t get into the Little League scandal, the marriage or why he wasn’t drafted following his sensational second year at Western Oklahoma, where he was a first-team NJCAA Division II All-American with a .472 average, 18 home runs, 76 RBIs and a 9-0 record on the mound.
“We have a lot of good players that have went on and signed out of here, and he’s the best college player I’ve had,” Western Oklahoma coach Kurt Russell said.
“It’s a shame no organization has given him an opportunity.”
Clearly, the controversies that have followed Almonte turned off teams, said one American League scout who has followed Almonte for years. The scout still vividly remembers watching him shut out powerful George Washington in the 2004 city championship game at Shea Stadium, throwing 90 mph, fanning 11 and allowing just one hit.
“I expected to see him one day at the major-league level,” said the area scout, who requested anonymity. “When I see him working here for Monroe, that’s a big surprise. I saw this guy good, and I thought he had a chance to get better.”
Ironically, what might have ruined Almonte’s career is what has taken him into coaching.
According to Monroe coach Mike Turo, as Almonte was growing up he had plenty of people pulling him in different directions. And their motives hardly were noble —they were in it for the money, looking to ride his golden left arm and lightning-quick bat to a big payday.
They were the ones, Turo said, who convinced Almonte to leave Monroe his junior year and head to Florida where he missed a year of baseball because he hadn’t established residency. They were the ones who convinced an out-of-shape Almonte to play independent baseball, with the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League in 2007, the year after he graduated from Monroe. That prevented him from ever competing in the NCAA.
Last fall, Monroe pitching coach Jose Batista, who played with Almonte at Monroe, asked him to join the staff.
His selling pitch was simple:
“A lot of people did a lot of harm to you. Nobody helped you. Let’s help these kids get somewhere.”
Almonte doesn’t have a specialization with Monroe. He helps Batista, and works with hitters and positions outfielders. He has spent plenty of time refining pick-off moves with the staff’s left-handers, teaching them how to avoid a balk by the slimmest of margins.
“It’s fun. I learn more about baseball coaching,” Almonte said. “I just like to help the kids get to the next level. I want to teach them.”
Added Turo, “He’s doing what he likes to do now, which is good. I want to see him living a normal life. We’re trying to get him a job in the school.”
Most of all, Almonte is teaching the Eagles how difficult it is to make it big.
Turo receives plenty of players from the Dominican Republic, talented players with major-league dreams, teenagers who aren’t thinking about college. Almonte talks to them.
“When it comes from his mouth, it helps,” Turo said.
The players respect Almonte. They all know his story, either what he did as a Little Leaguer or at Monroe. And they gravitate toward him.
“Once he speaks, all ears and eyes are on him,” ace right-hander Jesus Vasquez said.
Batista said he doesn’t think Almonte’s playing career is over. Almonte plans to play in semipro leagues this July, as he did last summer. The two have been working out frequently, and although Almonte said his arm is dead — “I can’t even throw 85 anymore,” he said jokingly — he still hits the ball violently hard. Yet, with a resigned smile, he says his dreams are dashed.
Perhaps he has new ones now. Almonte likes his role as coach so much he plans to join Turo over the summer with the Long Island Tigers, a high-level travel organization. He could see himself as a full-time coach one day, running his own program.
“Life goes on, this is another start [for me],” he said. “Let’s see what happens.”