Mets’ Fan Sues MLB Over Broken Bat
Another odd personal injury lawsuit – this time from a New York Mets’ fan who claims it is Major League Baseball and baseball players’ fault for the shattered bat that hit him in the face.
Sox’s Castro named in fan’s broken-bat lawsuit
August 9, 2010 Tribune News Services
A New York Mets fan who says a shattered bat smashed him in the face in the Shea Stadium stands is suing the team and Major League Baseball,
claiming they didn’t do enough to protect fans from break-prone maple bats.
James G. Falzon’s lawsuits follow years of discussion of the safety of maple baseball bats, which have become increasingly popular but have been shown to break apart more readily than traditional ash bats.
Falzon is seeking unspecified damages from the team, the league, Rawlings-brand bat maker the Jarden Corp. and two players: Mets second baseman Luis Castillo, who was wielding the bat, and White Sox catcher Ramon Castro (then with the Mets), who owned it, according to the lawsuits.
He suffered multiple facial fractures, including a broken palate, as his traumatized 11-year-old son looked on, the lawsuits said.
Pointing to MLB-commissioned studies of maple bats that went back to 2005, Falzon’s lawsuits argue that the league and the Mets failed to keep spectators “reasonably safe from hazards they had actual knowledge of, including the increased danger posed by shattering maple bats.”
The suits also accuse the players of not being careful enough in inspecting and maintaining the bat and accuse the manufacturer of producing an “inherently dangerous” bat.
MLB says on tickets that fans assume risk for accidents incidental to the game, such as getting hit by foul balls and broken bats.
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