Attention squarely on fan safety
lawyer Bob Hilliard, who represents fans in a California lawsuit that seeks class action status to sue on behalf of 1,750 fans hit by balls and bats at games each year.
The line drive off the bat of Yankees slugger Todd Frazier on Wednesday hit the girl in the face in less than a second, and the game came to a halt as she was treated in the stands. Frazier and other players from the Yankees and Minnesota Twins kneeled in prayer, and many fans were in stunned silence or in tears.
The toddler remained hospitalized Thursday. Her father said soon after she was hit, “She’s doing all right. Just keep her in your thoughts.”
In a statement Thursday, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred called the events “extremely upsetting.”
“Over the past few seasons MLB has worked with our clubs to expand the amount of netting in our ballparks,” Manfred Tampa Bay 8, Chicago Cubs 1 Houston 4, Chicago White Sox 3 Cleveland 6, L.A. Angels 5 Texas 8, Seattle 6
Thursday’s games
Cleveland 4, L.A. Angels 1 Tampa Bay at Baltimore Kansas City at Toronto Minnesota at Detroit Chicago White Sox at Houston Texas at Seattle
Friday’s games
Tampa Bay (Cobb 11-10) at Baltimore (Jimenez 6-10), 7:05 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees (Tanaka 12-11) at Toronto (Estrada 9-8), 7:07 p.m.
Boston (Porcello 10-17) at Cincinnati (Romano 5-6), 7:10 p.m. Minnesota (Gibson 11-10) at Detroit (Norris 4-7), 7:10 p.m.
Kansas City (Hammel 8-12) at Chicago White Sox (Lopez 2-3), 8:10 p.m.
L.A. Angels (Richards 0-2) at Houston (Verlander 13-8), 8:10 p.m.
Texas (Martinez 3-6) at Oakland (Graveman 5-4), 10:05 p.m.
Cleveland (Bauer 16-9) at Seattle (Ramirez 5-6), 10:10 p.m. said. “In light of yesterday’s event, we will redouble our efforts on this important issue.”
About a third of the 30 major league teams, the Yankees not among them, have at the commissioner’s urging extended the netting to at least the far end of the dugout. The Reds have promised to do it by next season’s Opening Day.
Hilliard’s lawsuit seeks to go further, to force clubs to extend protective netting from foul pole to foul pole. But like other lawsuits over decades, it was tossed out. An appeal is set to be heard in San Francisco in December.
“A day at the ballpark should not be a game of Russian Roulette, especially for children injured by projectiles in disturbingly disproportionate numbers,” lawyers wrote in court papers seeking the lawsuit’s reinstatement.
Most of the fans struck by balls and bats at games each year suffer minor injuries, but a few have been Miami Atlanta New York Philadelphia
Wednesday’s games Thursday’s games
72 67 65 61
W W
z-Los Angeles 97 Arizona 88 Colorado 82 San Diego 68 San Francisco 60 z-clinched playoff berth x-clinched division 80 83 87 92
L
84 67 81 71 79 72 69 84 66 86
L
56 65 70 84 93 Miami 9, N.Y. Mets 2
San Francisco 4, Colorado 0 Philadelphia 7, L.A. Dodgers 5 Pittsburgh 6, Milwaukee 4 St. Louis 9, Cincinnati 2 Tampa Bay 8, Chicago Cubs 1 Washington 7, Atlanta 3 Arizona 13, San Diego 7 L.A. Dodgers 5, Philadelphia 4 St. Louis at Cincinnati .474 .447 .428 .399
Pct Pct
.634 .575 .539 .447 .392 20 1⁄2 24 1⁄2 27 1⁄2
32
GB
.556 _ .533 3 1⁄2 .523 5 .451 16 .434 18 1⁄2
GB
_ 9 14 1⁄2 28 1⁄2 37 critically injured or killed. The more tragic results include a 14-year-old boy who died four days after he was hit on the left side of his head at Dodger Stadium in May 1970 and a 39-year-old woman who died a day after she was struck in the temple by a foul ball at a San Angelo Colts game in 2010.
But fans may be unaware of the stark legal reality of baseball: Successfully suing teams over such cases is nearly impossible. The fine print on every baseball ticket comes with a disclaimer that the bearer “assumes all risk and danger incidental to the game.”
For the last century or so, baseball has been virtually immune from such lawsuits because of what has become known as the Baseball Rule.
Ed Edmonds, a retired professor of law at Notre Dame Law School who coauthored “Baseball Meets the Law,” said at least two states, Idaho and Indiana, Washington at Atlanta Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Colorado at San Diego
Friday’s games
St. Louis (Wacha 12-8) at Pittsburgh (Nova 11-14), 7:05 p.m.
Boston (Porcello 10-17) at Cincinnati (Romano 5-6), 7:10 p.m. Washington (Jackson 5-6) at N.Y. Mets (deGrom 15-9), 7:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Lackey 11-11) at Milwaukee (Woodruff 2-2), 7:35 p.m. Philadelphia (Lively 3-6) at Atlanta (Newcomb 3-8), 7:35 p.m.
Miami (Conley 7-7) at Arizona (Greinke 17-6), 9:40 p.m.
Colorado (Gray 8-4) at San Diego (Lyles 1-3), 10:10 p.m.
San Francisco (Samardzija 9-14) at L.A. Dodgers (Hill 10-8), 10:10 p.m.
R H BI BB SO
2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0
Avg
.293 .321 .284 .274 .261 .207 .211 .232 .167 .244 .224 .132 .167 have turned away from automatic application of the Baseball Rule. But four other states, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois and New Jersey, passed legislation protecting teams from lawsuits.
New York real estate executive Andy Zlotnick, who unsuccessfully sued the Yankees after he was hit in the face by a ball at a game six years ago, said Avilan p Fields p Buehler p c-Ethier ph Morrow p f-Gonzalez ph Cingrani p Jansen p
Totals Philadelphia
C.Hernandez 2b Galvis ss Williams rf Hoskins 1b Altherr lf Herrera cf Alfaro c Crawford 3b Leiter Jr; p b-Joseph ph Pinto p Milner p Arano p g-Franco ph Ramos p
Totals
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
34 AB
4 5 5 4 3 4 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 0
34
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
5 R
2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
7 H
3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Los Angeles 101 001 200 Philadelphia 002 020 000
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 — —
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 4 7 BI BB SO
1 0 3 2 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
12 5 4
.000
—
— .320
— .239
— .500
Avg
.291 .255 .285 .293 .279 .283 .283 .255 .087 .238 .000 .000
— .230 .000
71 72
a-flied out for Maeda in the 4th; b-struck out for Leiter Jr; in the 6th; c-homered for Buehler in the 7th; d-walked for Granderson in the 8th; estruck out for Utley in the 8th; f-walked for Morrow in the 8th; g-struck out for Arano in the 8th. he required major reconstructive surgery and still has throbbing pain in his cheek, numbness in his lips and gums, double vision and retina damage. He said he has not gone to a game since.
“Nobody should go to a ballpark and come out without an eye or disabled,” he said. “Enough is enough.”
E: LOB:
Utley (5), Hoskins (4), Altherr (3);
Los Angeles 8, Philadelphia 8; Grandal (26), C.Hernandez (25), Hoskins (6); Taylor (5); Granderson (25), off Leiter Jr., Ethier (2), off Pinto, Williams (11), off Maeda; Bellinger (91), Puig (70), Granderson (63), Ethier (3), Williams 2 (50), Hoskins 2 (45); Crawford (1); Puig;
Los Angeles 5 (Taylor 2, Utley 2, Forsythe), Philadelphia 4 (C.Hernandez, Herrera 3); Los Angeles 0 for 7, Philadelphia 2 for 10;
Bellinger, Galvis; Galvis; Los Angeles 1 (Barnes, Culberson, Bellinger); Home, Scott Barry, First, Brian O’Nora, Second, Paul Emmel, Third, Chad Whitson; 3:39; 18,735 (43,651).
3B: SF: scoring position: A: (Turner). HR: Runners moved up: GIDP: DP:
Maeda 3 3 2 Avilan 1 0 0 Fields 1 2 2 Buehler, W, 1-0 1 0 0 Morrow, H, 10 1 1 0 Cingrani, H, 8 2⁄3 0 0 Jansen, S, 39-401 1⁄31 0 Milner 1-1, Arano 1-0;
RBIs:
2 0 1 0 0 0 0
RISP: Umpires: Inherited runners-scored: HBP:
2 1 0 1 0 1 0
3 1 2 2 2 1 1
2B: SB: Runners left in T:
61 4.25 16 2.93 20 3.00 1910.13 19 2.16 17 4.46 15 1.25
Leiter Jr. 6 5 3 1 1 3 89 4.69 Pinto, L, 1-2 21⁄3 2 2 2 0 0 9 7.89 Milner 2⁄3 0 0 0 1 1 14 2.28 Arano 1 0 0 0 2 2 21 1.69 Ramos 1 0 0 0 0 1 14 4.61 Milner pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. Jansen 1-0, Leiter Jr;