Former New York Mets pitcher John Franco may be 52 years old and retired from baseball, but that doesn’t mean he can no longer throw. According to court papers that were recently filed by a woman who was in charge of Franco’s and his wife’s estate sale last year, he can still bring plenty of heat.
The Staten Island Advance reported on Tuesday that Franco and his wife Rose are currently facing a lawsuit from a woman by the name of Wendy King. King oversaw an estate sale of the Francos’ mansion last year that grossed more than $70,000 on items such as a custom motorcycle, arcade machines and Mets memorabilia.
According to court documents, King told the Francos that the sale would have gone better if Rose had not “interfered with the sale of numerous items, including a piano.” The assertion infuriated both John and Rose, and King alleges that John shoved her away from a door when she tried to leave the estate. She also said Rose berated her and that John chucked an autographed baseball at the wall at one point in an attempt to intimidate her.
“John A. Franco acted like a bully, intending to intimidate a woman,” the filing stated.
The Francos claim they are owed more than $30,000, which King’s lawyer Jeffrey B. Gold said is “preposterous and based on warped thinking.” Wayne Lonstein, the Francos’ lawyer, called the estate sale a “three-ring circus” on Monday and said witnesses will attest that John and Rose did nothing wrong.
“I’ve spoken to credible witnesses, and I do not believe for one minute that John or Rose did anything approaching what these [suit] papers are apparently alleging,” Lonstein said. “I think this is about throwing mud on the wall and trying to dirty the Francos in the hope they’ll give up on their claims on the money they’re owed.”
It sounds like it’s about throwing a baseball at the wall, not mud. Or, at least, that’s the part we care about the most.
H/T Hardball Talk
