False Identities

In 2001, a youth baseball team from the Bronx stormed through the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania to win the Championship. They were led by a left-handed pitcher by the name of Danny Almonte. He was 5 foot 8 inches tall, and his fastball topped out at 76 mph which is equivalent to a major league 102 mph fastball. He threw a no-hitter and a perfect game in consecutive outings and finished the tournament striking out 62 of 72 batters faced, giving up only three hits, and one unearned run. His team was honored before a New York Yankees game, and Almonte received the key to New York City by mayor Rudy Giuliani.

After an extensive investigation, it was discovered that Almonte had been born in 1987, not 1989 which meant he was 14 years old, playing against 11 and 12-year-olds. His team was forced to forfeit all of their wins, along with their World Series title because Almonte was two years too old to compete. Youth sports leagues are segregated by age for a reason. As we saw in the Almonte case, 2-3 years more of growth creates an unfair biological advantage.

Similarly, there are reasons why men and women’s sports are segregated. There are dramatic physical differences between the sexes to such an extent that it is only fair that to have separate teams. If women and men were forced to compete for spots on the same team, the sports opportunities for women would all but disappear. This year, at the University of Pennsylvania, a biological male, Lia Thomas, was allowed to compete against women in NCAA swimming. As expected, “she” dominated – setting many records and winning an NCAA title.