The man may be gone, but his team plays on.
A group of Brighton Beach locals and out-of-towners assembled again for the annual Anthony Senisi Memorial Softball Game, where they swapped stories and reminisced about their late friend, who was tragically killed in a case of mistaken identity.
“We always have a good time,” said Billy Fallon, a life-long friend of Senisi. “It’s a way to see everybody once a year, and it keeps Anthony’s memory alive.”
Senisi died on Aug. 4, 2007, after his attacker mistook him for another man and stabbed him fatally in the chest.
Every year since, Fallon and Howard Sosner endeavor to rekindle the memory of their lost friend by hosting a few rounds of his favorite game — softball — on the first Sunday of every August, which attracts dozens of Senisi’s friends.
“Me and Howie thought, ‘what can we do to keep his memory alive?’ And we came up with playing softball, because that’s what we did as kids,” said Fallon.
Sosner, who met Senisi in the second grade, described his late buddy as one of the kindest men he knew and counted him as among his favorite people.
“Anthony was a great guy, he would give the worst person in the world the shirt off his back,” Sosner said.
As Senisi’s long list friends get older, there’s no telling how many years of softball they have left in them. But one thing’s for sure: his closest friends will always reserve one day of the year just for Anthony.
“We’re going to play until we can’t run no more, and after that we’ll find something else to do, to honor Anthony’s memory,” said Sosner.
Reach reporter Colin Mixson at cmixson@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4514.
