When you play baseball/softball you play knowing that you may get hurt. You may skin your leg up sliding into a base, you may get hit with the ball you where supposed to catch, you also may get hit with it if you are too far over (or crowding) the plate when up to bat. Well the Supreme Court agreed.
Player struck by baseball loses lawsuit
Fri Apr 7, 2006 8:42 AM ETSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A player hit by a pitch during a college baseball game in California has struck out in his effort to win damages over the incident.
California’s top court ruled 6-1 against a lawsuit by Jose Avila, a student at Rio Honda Community College, who was struck by a pitch in a 2001 game against Citrus Community College. Both schools are in Southern California.
According to his lawsuit, Avila’s helmet was broken and he suffered pain and dizziness from the beaning.
Avila sued both schools, the manager, the maker of his helmet and others. But in a decision that came during the opening week of the major-league baseball season, the California Supreme Court ruled against him.
“For better or worse, being intentionally thrown at is a fundamental part and inherent risk of the sport of baseball,” the court wrote. “It is not the function of tort law to police such conduct.”
“Being intentionally hit is likewise an inherent risk of the sport, so accepted by custom that a pitch intentionally thrown at a batter has its own terminology: ‘brushback,’ ‘beanball,’ ‘chin music.’”
The decision cited some of the best-known pitchers in baseball history as evidence even top players had threatened or intentionally hit batters to gain advantage.
The judges concluded their opinion by quoting a Hall of Fame player: “In the possibly apocryphal words of New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, ‘It ain’t over till it’s over,’ but this means that for Avila’s complaint against Citrus College, it’s over.”
Tags: Baseball, Legal, News, OpEd, Uncategorized
Leave a Reply