DOCUMENT: Sports

In Bronx, El Duque Trumps Almonte

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In Bronx, El Duque Trumps Almonte

Little League punk Danny Almonte, the fireballing truant, is a piker when compared to New York Yankee pitcher Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, the wily Cuban defector.

While the boy of mucho birth certificates has shaved two years from his age, Hernandez has rolled back his odometer--and that of his valuable throwing arm--by four whole years (that's the difference between a Bronx Bomber and a Baby Bomber).

Hernandez, who fled Cuba in December 1997, says that he is 31, a claim repeated by the Yankees on the team's web site. But according to this February 1997 divorce decree filed in Havana, Hernandez was actually born on October 11, 1965 (not 1969 as he now claims). That makes him 35.

A copy of the decree--and a certified English translation of the Cuban document--surfaced during a child support case brought against Hernandez by his ex-wife Norma. (4 pages)