Memorial baseball game honors murder victim Anthony Senisi

Friends and family gathered in Marine Park Aug. 4 to remember Anthony Senisi, a young man who was killed 12 years ago in a case of mistaken identity.

Senisi died August 4, 2007, when he was attacked and fatally stabbed in the back in Brighton Beach by an attacker who mistook him for another man. The father of two had run out to pick up some milk at a grocery store when he was stabbed.

Senisi stumbled to his family’s apartment on Brighton Sixth Street and fell into his father’s arms. Authorities believe the attacker had mistaken Senisi for someone else. The attacker was found guilty and sentenced to 22 years in prison. 

So, every year on the first Sunday in August, friends and family gather for the annual Anthony Senisi Memorial Softball Game originally organized by Senisi’s best friends Billy Fallon and Howard Sosner, because he loved the game and they all played softball together as kids.

The group of friends lost another member this year when Fallon died in March. The group decided to use the occasion to also honor Fallon’s memory.

“Anthony and Billy were best friends. My brother and a couple of other guys started the memorial softball game in his memory on the first Sunday of August because his birthday is at the beginning of August,” Billy Fallon’s brother Bobby Fallon told this paper.

“So we’ve been doing it for 11 years,” he went on. “When my brother passed away in March on St. Patrick’s Day we decided to add his name to it and make it the ‘Anthony and Billy Softball Game.’ So we continue the tradition.”

Fallon added that his son and daughter, Billy’s niece and nephew, were there to play as well.

“We have two dear friends that we lost and we’re here to pay our respects and show how much we care and remember these guys,” William Tainowitz told this paper.

“I went to junior high school with Anthony and Billy and we’ve played softball since we were 12 or 13 years old at P.S. 63,” he added. “We all grew up together playing ball and hanging out. We were all very close.”

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