The Long Island youth-baseball manager arrested for allegedly stalking an opposing coach shelled out more than $50,000 to personally finance a revenge team that fell flat on its face, The Post has learned.

Angered after his own son failed to flourish on the Long Island Infernos traveling baseball team for 10- and 11-year-olds, Robert Sanfilippo used his own money to create and fund the Long Island Vengeance to even the score against his boy’s former squad, a law-enforcement source said….

While other Long Island teams had modest equipment, Sanfilippo spent like a Suffolk County Steinbrenner. The Vengeance sported top of the line helmets with airbrushed skull and crossbones insignias that cost upwards of $300 each for a team of roughly 20 kids. The squad also provided each player with two uniforms and baseball bags worth hundreds of dollars.

– Selim Algar, N.Y. Post.

Oh man, Robert Sanfilippo hates subtlety. The Long Island Vengeance! Sounds like a wrestling move and/or a drink special at a Park Ave. bar in Rockville Centre.

Also, outside of the whole playing for an alleged stalker thing, it doesn’t sound like such a bad deal for the other members of the Long Island Vengeance. They get awesome gear and a chance to play in this league, and all they have to do is help Sanfilippo enact his bizarre Little League retribution.

I wonder what he would have done if they beat the Infernos, anyway. Would Sanfilippo just drop it? Would that be the end of the Vengeance? “OK, boys, our work here is done. Pack up those bags. Oh, and I’m going to need those bats back.”

Probably it wouldn’t shake out like that because it almost never does with (alleged) psychotic vendettas.

The skull and crossbones logos, it turns out, are awesome. Not in any way appropriate for 10- and 11-year-olds, but awesome. From the Vengeance’s website:

Badass, right?

Via James K.