Long Island Senior Citizen Threatened To Beat His Softball Teammate's Brains Out With A Bat In Dispute Over Uniform Colors
NY Post - A hot-headed old-timer turned his Long Island “Super Senior” softball league into a field of screams by threatening to beat his teammate/manager’s “brains out” with a bat — and even to stalk him at his neighborhood pharmacy, a new lawsuit charges. The diamond dust-up broke out after Ronald Tagliaferri, 74, of Shoreham, and Robert Willis, 72, of Ridge, got into a squabble over the color and cut of uniforms for their team, the Kingsmen, in March 2013, according to the Suffolk County filing. Tagliaferri, an outfielder who had previously been manager, stormed Willis, a third baseman who replaced him running the squad, with his fists clenched, forcing teammates to jump in, according to the lawsuit. Things got so heated, the suit states, that Tagliaferri, “in a menacing and threatening tone,” later left a message on Willis’ voicemail telling him he knows where he “gets his prescriptions filled” and that Willis “should be on the lookout.” Spooked, Willis switched to a different team, the Eagles. But Tagliaferri — who is so obsessed with softball that his license plate reads “0 Errors” — maintained a grudge, according to the suit. Three months later, he called Willis, threatening to “beat [his] brains out with a baseball bat” if he showed up for a game, the suit says.
It came to a head when the Eagles faced the Kingsmen in August. The umpire called Willis out at second base, but the hard-of-hearing baserunner asked him to repeat the call — and Tagliaferri exploded, the lawsuit states. “Hey, you’re out! Get off the goddamn base!” he shouted, the suit says. Tagliaferri charged at Willis and again had to be restrained, the suit states. Tagliaferri called the allegations “outright lies.” “I never threatened him with a bat .?.?. He has osteoporosis. He doesn’t walk too great. I wouldn’t do anything to [hurt] this guy,” said Tagliaferri, who said he retired from the NYPD after 25 years patrolling in Brooklyn. “I never heard of anyone taking someone to court over an argument on the baseball field.” “Mr. Willis has loved and played this game his entire life,” said his attorney, Vesselin Mitev of the firm Ray, Mitev and Associates.
Mandelbaum! Mandelbaum! Mandelbaum!
Mel Brooks over here better keep his head on a goddam swivel because I’ve never heard of anything more cowardly than suing another man over an argument that happens between the chalk on the baseball diamond. I mean is it a bit extreme to tell a dude you know where he gets his prescriptions filled and threaten to beat his brains in? Probably. But thats just Ronnie Tagliaferri. He takes the game and the uniforms very, very seriously. He makes 0 Errors. He’s like Mike Ehrmantraut. No Half Measures. You take one look at Robert Willis and you know he’s one of those guys that probably wanted to go with those stupid cut off sleeveless uniforms. He looks like the kinda guy that likes those. But Not Tagliaferri. Dude is an old school son of a bitch that will go yard on you, beat you up at second base, and probably fuck your wife after the game.
PS – Given the circumstances and the guy we’re talking about here, 0 Errors is one hundred percent the greatest license plate of all time. I know I always exaggerate with the “…of all time’s” but I’m dead ass serious Ronnie “0 Errors” Tagliaferri takes the cake here.
