Originally Posted By hightp I'm suprised this hasn't been posted yet. I feel sorry for the boy, but I think the parents are going a little too far: Family files lawsuit in metal bat injury case Mon May 19, 10:37 AM ET The family of a boy who suffered brain damage after he was struck by a line drive off an aluminum baseball bat sued the bat's maker and others on Monday, saying they should have known it was dangerous. The family of Steven Domalewski, who was 12 when he was struck by the ball in 2006, filed the lawsuit in state Superior Court. It names Hillerich & Bradsby Co., maker of the 31-inch, 19-ounce Louisville Slugger TPX Platinum bat used when Steven was hit. The lawsuit also names Little League Baseball and Sports Authority, which sold the bat. It claims the defendants knew, or should have known, that the bat was dangerous for children to use, according to the family's attorney, Ernest Fronzuto. "People who have children in youth sports are excited about the lawsuit from a public policy standpoint because they hope it can make the sport safer," Fronzuto said after filing the suit Monday morning. "There are also those who are skeptical of the lawsuit and don't see the connection between Steven's injury and the aluminum bat." Little League denies any wrongdoing, as does the bat manufacturer. Sports Authority has not responded to several telephone messages seeking comment. Steven was pitching in a Police Athletic League game when he was hit just above the heart by a line drive. His heart stopped beating and his brain was deprived of oxygen for 15 to 20 minutes, according to his doctors. Although he was not playing in a Little League game, the organization is being sued because it gave its seal of approval to the bat, certifying it as safe for use by children, Fronzuto said.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper There is no doubt that an aluminum bat has a great potential to cause injury, in my opinion as a Director of Parks and Recreation. There is also no doubt that the resistance to wood bats is one of economy (teams don't want to pay to replace broken bats) and big headedness (kids like the long ball). I'm an advocate for wood bats, at least certainly at the ages of 10 and up. Kids are stronger today than they were a decade or two ago. When you get to travel teams you have kids that are getting professional training, strength conditioning, etc at an earlier age which is making them more powerful. Heck, I've got sports groups asking me to redesign parks with larger outfield fences to accommodate the bigger hitters when all they need to do is put wood bats in the kids hands. I'm sure the aluminum bat industry (and maybe even some environmentalists) don't want to face that reality but there is no doubt in my mind that aluminum bats present an unnecessary danger. I hope the lawsuit goes forward and I look forward to seeing how it turns out.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Aluminum bats are a huge problem. The majors are also seeing a problem now that some players are using maple bats rather than the traditional ash. It seems the maple bats break more frequently and dangerously than the ash bats do. At times there are good reasons to stay with the traditional!!
Originally Posted By friendofdd It is certainly a sad circumstance. My eldest granddaughter is a softball player. She is a strong batter and frequently is in the fourth at bat as clean-up. Last year, while playing for her college team, she broke an aluminum bat. It is not unheard of, but no girl on either team, or my DW and I had seen such a thing. All players sorta' froze, trying to figure out what had happened and why they were seeing something other than the ball in the air. Granddaughter quickly decided she would run and let the officials sort it out. Aluminum makes the softball go longer and is probably good for the women's teams, but I don't think I've seen broken wood pieces travel so far. I know the injury incident didn't include a broken bat, but I do favor wood for hardball.
Originally Posted By X-san I'm sorry but I have to disagree here that this lawsuit has any validity whatsoever. Can someone prove that a wooden bat couldn't possibly have caused the same injury? I just don't see it. Unless they advocate making ALL baseball bats illegal (it *is* dangerous, after all).
Originally Posted By X-san By the way, I'm not denying the validity of concerns people brought up on this thread. I really don't know, so I'll take your word for it. I just don't see how THIS CASE (a very freakish sort of accident to be sure) can be be blamed on the type of bat used.
Originally Posted By SuperDry I think the real answer to this situation is missing from the story quoted in #1. Elsewhere, I read that the boy will require millions of dollars in specialized medical care for the rest of his life. I suspect that the parents are doing anything they can to get the money to pay for that care for their kid, rather than just trying to cash in on the situation. It's a sad situation all around.
Originally Posted By barboy /// a boy who suffered brain damage after he was struck by a line drive/// ***assumption of risk I say**** The kid should have either caught the ball, dodged the ball or not played at all before blaming others. It is my hope that the family and complainant's lawyer will not get dime.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 Considering he wasn't playing a little league game, how in the hell do they have a legal right to sue Little league? SPP care to enlighten us with your wisdom of the law? So basically, by this lawsuit, if Person X endorses Product Y and I get hurt by Product Y, I can sue Person X?
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< So basically, by this lawsuit, if Person X endorses Product Y and I get hurt by Product Y, I can sue Person X? >>> In practical terms, you can sue anyone or any entity for any reason. It's up to the person sued to get themselves dismissed from the lawsuit if they feel they have no liability.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 In practical terms, you can sue anyone or any entity for any reason. It's up to the person sued to get themselves dismissed from the lawsuit if they feel they have no liability.<< Our country is so messed up....
Originally Posted By X-san The "reason" seems to be the fact that little league endorses those bats. Sounds flimsy to me too. And yes, I agree that our country is pretty messed up on all the lawsuit issues (it's fun to listen to all the jokes when you travel abroad...we've really earned ourselves quite a reputation for foolishness!). Anyway in this case, it's not that I don't have sympathy for this family, of course, but sometimes freak accidents do occur sad to say.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 I sincerely think we are nearing the end of our society as a whole. There are no winners in a lawsuit like this and the fact that a jury of folks who think "They have plenty of money to spare, why not give that poor family son", ensures that damn family will get a sizable settlement or judgement. I think our legal system needs a complete overhaul, where juries are not allowed to issue amounts, that should be left to a judge.
Originally Posted By X-san Not sure if I agree with that, per se (puts too much power in the hands of one person), but I think having a maximum possible amount decided between the lawyers and the judge would be a good idea.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 The problem is, lawyers have a huge lobby and donate heavily to both parties, I doubt we will ever see any true legal reform in our lifetime, so our country continues it's spiral to destruction....
Originally Posted By X-san True reform would be where there are no more lobbyists, and campaign contributions come with some sort of caveat that the contributor is not allowed in any way to make contact with or by proxy attempt to communicate with the elected officials in question for the duration of their term of office. Yeah, right.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I didn't catch the issue with it being a PAL game vs Little League but it does stand to reason that LL would be named in the suit as they gave an "official endorsement" of the product...particularly saying it is safe. There is quite more to this story, as I'm sure you can figure out. Little League has had an internal debate for a number of years about the safety of aluminum bats. And, unfortunately, this isn't a "freakish case". There have been other injuries and deaths related to aluminum bats.
Originally Posted By dshyates Weren't thier injusies and deaths from Wooden bats/ Who determines an acceptable level of death we will accept from Baseball bats. So the kids injured and killed with wooden bats is ok, but the number is too high with aluminum bats. Simple fact Baseball Bats are dangerous. Whats next? I think we need to stop Boxers from hitting each other, it dangerous. Then Boxing would be much safer.
Originally Posted By dshyates Oh, does anyone here know what school extracurricular activity is the most dangerous for our kids? I'll give you a hint, Disney is a major promoter of this activity.
