My only observation on this is “How blind can people be?” I have large kids. My 14 year old daughter is almost 5’11" and my 10 (soon to be 11) year old son wears a size 9 shoe.
But come on! In the pictures of this towering kid where he’s supposed to be 12, looks like he’s 16 but really 14, would anyone would think he has even the remotest chance of being 12 despite what his birth certificate says!!!
I guess people are as oblivious as they want to be and he was a heck of a pitcher.
I thought the kid looked kind of tall for twelve, but I wouldn’t say it was impossible.Of course, that’s probably because my daughter has a twelve year old friend (female) who’s just about 6 feet tall.
People in the league and in the district apparently did have questions, {http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0135/pappalardo.php}but what could anyone have done before the older birth certificate turned up? How are you going to verify a kids age,except by a birth certificate? Who expects someone to get a phony birth certificate for their kid and emigrate, just to play baseball in a division for younger kids ? And just because people have questions,doesn’t mean they have any basis to. Two weeks ago, at my son’s Little League game, there was a huge discussion on the sidelines about whether one of the kids was eligible to play in that division. What brought up the question? The division is for kids who were 11 or under on July 31,someone knew this kid was going into 7th grade,and was under the impression that the kid had to be almost 13, if he wasn’t alresdy.(In fact, since the age cutoff for school is Dec 31, kids here with late birthdays start 7th grade at 11).Add that to the fact that this kid towered over the just-turned nine year olds and people were sure he was too old,even though he really wasn’t.
I have possibly the dumbest question ever asked on this board. Ready?
The parents lied about his age and produced conflicting documents regarding his date and location of birth.
Did the kid know how old he actually was and participate actively in this scam? Or did they also show him a certificate saying he was 12?
Sorry if that sounds stupid, but I’m curious. I can’t decide if I feel sorry for this kid because his parents are lying manipulators or if I’m mad at him for being one.
How much you wanna bet this would make a good SNL sketch…
Get some guy who’s 6’2" needs a shave to get out there and pitch, while all the legitimate kids whine about not being able to hit sliders and 95mph fastballs.
Okay, maybe it’s not that funny. I knew he was too old when I saw the look on the kids face when he was congratulated by Mayor Giulani.
I agree that when I looked at this kid, I thought “That kid looks older than 12.” But it’s hard to prove with common sense. I know a couple of kids who look a few years older than they are, and their parents don’t have any motivation to lie about their age.
There’s an essay by Stephen King in one of his collections of short stories about his son’s little league team. He comments on how large the kid is (since SK is pretty tall, I think his kid was near 6 feet at the time of the story, and a bulky 6’, not a beanpole). He also mentions how strange it is to see the emotions of a younger child on a seemingly older face.
How long has this kid been claiming to be younger than he is? I’m inclined to think that he was manipulated by his father. I think most kids, even when old enough to know that lying is wrong, would be confused about the issue if a parent was taking the lead. Actually, the last thing I read, the parents haven’t admitted to anything yet – they are still claiming, despite the new birth certificate, that he is 12.
This is disapointing, i really wanted to watch this kid as he went from little league, to H.S. ball, then to the majors.
I being in baseball before my injury to my foot, I was going to get a scholarship to a really nice school, which is a really big thing seeing most kids go from H.S. to the minors and skip the college route so schools don’t give baseball much funding.
I was really impressed with this kid, now whether it’s he had anything to do with it or not, now his acheivments seemed tainted.
Not to take anything away from him, he is still really talented, but he is 14 playing kids 9 to 12.