August 31, 2001 – CBS World News Roundup: Late Edition – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
August 31, 2001 – A baseball scandal, this day in 2001 – but rather than Major League baseball, it was Little League that got all the attention. And the attention was centered around 14 year old Danny Almonte, pitcher for the Rolando Paulino All-Stars Little League team and the 2001 Little League World Series.
Seems Almonte and his team mates managed to make it to third place, while Almonte was acknowledged as doing pitching the first Perfect Game for a Little League World Series since 1979.
And so it was cause for wild celebration for Danny and his teammates. But then questions started to bubble up – and it was later discovered that Almonte was, in reality 14 and not 12 as Little League requirements stated.
Within days the whole thing spiraled out of control and the Rolando Paulino All-Stars had to forfeit all their winning games and quietly disappear into the woodwork.
Meanwhile in Tokyo; the death toll rose to 44 as a deadly explosion and fire ripped through a Mahjong Parlor and several other gaming establishments shortly after midnight. It took five hours to put out the fire and the search for more bodies continued well into the following day.
And Confrontation became Conflagration as police tried to serve a man with a warrant in Santa Clarita California earlier this day. The man, believed to be stockpiling weapons in his upscale home, opened fire on Sheriffs Deputies, killing one and proceeded to engaged in a three-hour standoff before setting the house on fire and killing himself. Neighbors were stunned that someone had that much firepower stashed in their house.
And that’s just a small slice of what happened on this mayhem filled August 31st 2001, as reported by the CBS World News Roundup: Late Edition
