Red Sox fan hit by foul bowl cries foul!

Karros270 · 06-10-2004, 12:49 PM

I'm glad she lost. I think it would have set bad precedent if she had won and inevitably ticket prices would of gone up as a result. If she had won that $486,909 she was suing for could just about have bought a season ticket at Fenway instead of the two it could buy right now. People know there is a risk when they go to a game, if you're worried about it sit in the cheap seats but don't blame the team when you get hit. Everyone knows the risks.

BOSTON -- A woman who was seriously injured by a foul ball at Fenway Park has no grounds to sue because she assumed a risk by attending the baseball game, a state appeals court ruled.

The Boston Red Sox "had no duty to warn the plaintiff of the obvious danger of a foul ball being hit into the stands," the court said Wednesday in blocking Jane Costa's personal injury lawsuit from going to trial.

The three-member panel said that even someone with scant knowledge of baseball should realize that "a central feature of the game is that batters will forcefully hit balls that may go astray from their intended direction."

Costa, who was injured in 1998, sued the team for $486,909 in lost wages and medical expenses. She had been sitting about 20 rows behind the Red Sox dugout when Boston's Darren Lewis hit the foul ball.

Costa had to undergo reconstructive surgery that installed eight plates in her face, said her lawyer, James R. Burke.

According to court documents filed by Burke, an expert calculated that the ball was traveling about 90 mph when it struck Costa about 141 feet from home plate.

"I'm more than angry. I was in critical condition," Costa told the Boston Globe. She said Red Sox management and players are "bickering over millions and millions of dollars to hit a ball, and when one of their fans get hurt, they don't care."

According to Red Sox officials, three to four dozen patrons each season are injured by foul balls.

yankeesrule · 06-10-2004, 01:11 PM

dont the tickets say on them beware of foul balls? and dont they make an announcement before the game to beware of foul balls?

if she had been paying attention to the game at all, she would have seen the foul coming and ducked out of the way.

johnnyshaka · 06-10-2004, 01:18 PM

I could only see something like this sticking if the screen behind homeplate failed and allowed a ball to get through and injury somebody...but that would be the only instance where I'd see fit for a lawsuit.

PotatoPeeler · 06-10-2004, 01:30 PM

How the hell did this even get to court? It's printed right on the effin' ticket.

PotatoPeeler · 06-10-2004, 01:34 PM

I think the most amazing part of this story is that Darren Lewis actually made contact with a baseball.

LivnLegend · 06-10-2004, 01:35 PM

"Foul Bowl"??

Am I missing the joke?

CMH · 06-10-2004, 01:55 PM

Why go to a baseball game and not actually watch?

Her sentence for being an idiot should have been allowing every season ticket holder to foul off pitches into her face.

Karros270 · 06-10-2004, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LivnLegend
"Foul Bowl"??

Am I missing the joke?

No, but you didn't miss the typo. I must have had something else on my mind.

CMH · 06-10-2004, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Karros270
No, but you didn't miss the typo. I must have had something else on my mind.

Your mom's cooking?

sixto · 06-10-2004, 02:02 PM

Interestingly, according to a former baseball usher I know, ushers at Veterans Stadium were always told that fans could not sue for being hit by a foul ball if, and only if, they were sitting in the seat on their ticket.

I wonder if that came into play on this case at all.

Jason Moyer · 06-10-2004, 02:04 PM

Damn, I thought this thread was about a woman who drank too much at a Red Sox game, went to use the bathroom, and fell and cracked her head open on a bathroom appliance. I'm disappointed.

congobeast · 06-10-2004, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PotatoPeeler
I think the most amazing part of this story is that Darren Lewis actually made contact with a baseball.

Agree.
Though, I must say this is as amusing, if not amazing:

Quote:

The three-member panel said that even someone with scant knowledge of baseball should realize that "a central feature of the game is that batters will forcefully hit balls that may go astray from their intended direction."

Can you imagine how much different the game would be if balls went precisely where the batter intended? Oy!

Karros270 · 06-10-2004, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by YankeePride
Your mom's cooking?

Ouch! No I was thinking along the lines of a different type of bowl.

PotatoPeeler · 06-10-2004, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by YankeePride
Why go to a baseball game and not actually watch?

No idea, man. I went to a Sky Sox (Rockies AAA affiliate) game on Tuesday and there was a guy sitting about even with 1B and 10 rows back that came within a couple eyelashes of taking a screaming foul ball of the side of the head. He didn't duck until after the ball smacked off the seat behind him.

Hank Greenberg · 06-10-2004, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Karros270
Ouch! No I was thinking along the lines of a different type of bowl.

Had you recently eaten Taco Bell?

KurtBevacqua · 06-10-2004, 04:35 PM

Next someone will sue a team because they got sunburn during a game.

mlyons · 06-10-2004, 05:10 PM

I got a real bad sunburn at a game a few years back. If I develop skin cancer, I'm going to have to sue, because the ballpark should have been oriented so I wouldn't have been in direct sunlight the whole time.

Jason Moyer · 06-10-2004, 11:18 PM

Don't they make period announcements at every MLB game saying "balls hit into the stands may cause injury, etc, please pay attention to the game at all times, etc etc". I remember those announcements from going to the vet in the 80's and last month when I went to PNC they were saying that every few innings.

CMH · 06-11-2004, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Karros270
Ouch! No I was thinking along the lines of a different type of bowl.

darkhorse · 06-11-2004, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by YankeePride
Why go to a baseball game and not actually watch?

Her sentence for being an idiot should have been allowing every season ticket holder to foul off pitches into her face.

Who watches every second of an MLB game? Does it take even one second for a ball traveling 90 mph to travel 141 feet.

No one, even people with a scant knowledge of baseball, goes to the park expecting they'll need reconstructive surgery before the game is done.

What was your sentence?

06-10-2004, 12:49 PM	#1
Karros270 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 2,392	Red Sox fan hit by foul bowl cries foul! I'm glad she lost. I think it would have set bad precedent if she had won and inevitably ticket prices would of gone up as a result. If she had won that $486,909 she was suing for could just about have bought a season ticket at Fenway instead of the two it could buy right now. People know there is a risk when they go to a game, if you're worried about it sit in the cheap seats but don't blame the team when you get hit. Everyone knows the risks. BOSTON -- A woman who was seriously injured by a foul ball at Fenway Park has no grounds to sue because she assumed a risk by attending the baseball game, a state appeals court ruled. The Boston Red Sox "had no duty to warn the plaintiff of the obvious danger of a foul ball being hit into the stands," the court said Wednesday in blocking Jane Costa's personal injury lawsuit from going to trial. The three-member panel said that even someone with scant knowledge of baseball should realize that "a central feature of the game is that batters will forcefully hit balls that may go astray from their intended direction." Costa, who was injured in 1998, sued the team for $486,909 in lost wages and medical expenses. She had been sitting about 20 rows behind the Red Sox dugout when Boston's Darren Lewis hit the foul ball. Costa had to undergo reconstructive surgery that installed eight plates in her face, said her lawyer, James R. Burke. According to court documents filed by Burke, an expert calculated that the ball was traveling about 90 mph when it struck Costa about 141 feet from home plate. "I'm more than angry. I was in critical condition," Costa told the Boston Globe. She said Red Sox management and players are "bickering over millions and millions of dollars to hit a ball, and when one of their fans get hurt, they don't care." According to Red Sox officials, three to four dozen patrons each season are injured by foul balls. __________________ now everybody's praying...don't prey on me

06-10-2004, 01:18 PM	#3
johnnyshaka All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 680	I could only see something like this sticking if the screen behind homeplate failed and allowed a ball to get through and injury somebody...but that would be the only instance where I'd see fit for a lawsuit. __________________

06-10-2004, 01:30 PM	#4
PotatoPeeler Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Rapid City, SD Posts: 3,639	How the hell did this even get to court? It's printed right on the effin' ticket. __________________ 培傑西 I have never taken a lesson on how to talk on TV in my life. - Tim McCarver Guns have only two enemies; rust and liberals. The world is a comedy to those that think; a tragedy to those that feel.

06-10-2004, 01:34 PM	#5
PotatoPeeler Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Rapid City, SD Posts: 3,639	I think the most amazing part of this story is that Darren Lewis actually made contact with a baseball. __________________ 培傑西 I have never taken a lesson on how to talk on TV in my life. - Tim McCarver Guns have only two enemies; rust and liberals. The world is a comedy to those that think; a tragedy to those that feel.

06-10-2004, 01:35 PM	#6
LivnLegend Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: 100% pure adrenaline! Posts: 5,624	"Foul Bowl"?? Am I missing the joke? __________________ Excess ain't rebellion. You're drinking what they're selling.

06-10-2004, 01:11 PM	#2
yankeesrule All Star Starter Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,367	dont the tickets say on them beware of foul balls? and dont they make an announcement before the game to beware of foul balls? if she had been paying attention to the game at all, she would have seen the foul coming and ducked out of the way.

06-10-2004, 01:55 PM	#7
CMH Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5,057	Why go to a baseball game and not actually watch? Her sentence for being an idiot should have been allowing every season ticket holder to foul off pitches into her face.

06-10-2004, 02:02 PM	#10
sixto Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 2,271	Interestingly, according to a former baseball usher I know, ushers at Veterans Stadium were always told that fans could not sue for being hit by a foul ball if, and only if, they were sitting in the seat on their ticket. I wonder if that came into play on this case at all.

06-10-2004, 02:04 PM	#11
Jason Moyer Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 5,108	Damn, I thought this thread was about a woman who drank too much at a Red Sox game, went to use the bathroom, and fell and cracked her head open on a bathroom appliance. I'm disappointed. __________________ "I pretty much popped everything cold turkey. We were doing steroids they wouldn't give to horses." -- Tom House "I was very fortunate to have a pitching coach by the name of Tom House...Tom, I really miss those days that we spent in the weight room and out on the field working together." -- Nolan Ryan's HoF Induction Speech

06-10-2004, 04:35 PM	#16
KurtBevacqua Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 2,968	Next someone will sue a team because they got sunburn during a game. __________________ "The type and formula of most schemes of philanthropy or humanitarianism is this: A and B put their heads together to decide what C shall be made to do for D. The radical vice of all these schemes, from a sociological point of view, is that C is not allowed a voice in the matter, and his position, character, and interests, as well as the ultimate effects on society through C's interests, are entirely overlooked. I call C the Forgotten Man" - William Graham Sumner

06-10-2004, 05:10 PM	#17
mlyons Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 3,725	I got a real bad sunburn at a game a few years back. If I develop skin cancer, I'm going to have to sue, because the ballpark should have been oriented so I wouldn't have been in direct sunlight the whole time. __________________ Things can always be worse.

06-10-2004, 11:18 PM	#18
Jason Moyer Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 5,108	Don't they make period announcements at every MLB game saying "balls hit into the stands may cause injury, etc, please pay attention to the game at all times, etc etc". I remember those announcements from going to the vet in the 80's and last month when I went to PNC they were saying that every few innings. __________________ "I pretty much popped everything cold turkey. We were doing steroids they wouldn't give to horses." -- Tom House "I was very fortunate to have a pitching coach by the name of Tom House...Tom, I really miss those days that we spent in the weight room and out on the field working together." -- Nolan Ryan's HoF Induction Speech