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Suit says fan lost an eye to foul ball

The attorney for the 72-year-old man says the teams and management at Knology Park should have offered more protections.

By MEGAN SCOTT
Published April 14, 2005

DUNEDIN - A 72-year-old baseball fan claims he was blinded in one eye after being hit with a foul ball during a minor-league game in May at Knology Park.

Ronald Young of Dunedin has sued three baseball teams and others, saying he has no sight in his damaged right eye. He referred all questions to his attorney, James Hilbert Jr.

"He was struck in the orbit of his right eye, and sustained multiple fractures," Hilbert said. "He had to have quite extensive surgery at Bayfront Medical Center. He is ultimately blind."

The incident happened on May 26, 2004.

Young was one of 100 people in the stands watching the Tampa Yankees play the Palm Beach Cardinals. The teams were playing in Dunedin because the Yankees' home, Legends Field, was being used for another event.

During the second inning, he got up to leave. He was hit behind the dugout near first base as he made his way down the walkway.

"I was way down in right field, and I heard (the whack)," said Ken Carson, general manager for the Blue Jays. "It hit him hard. I ran up to where he was. He had glasses on, and his lenses popped out and were about 10 or 15 feet from him."

Carson said someone called 911 and an ambulance and helicopter arrived. Young was flown to Bayfront Medical Center.

The game resumed after about 30 or 40 minutes.

Later, Ben Julianel, No. 6 on the Tampa Yankees, who hit the foul ball, autographed a bat for Young.

But Young wants more than that.

According to the lawsuit, he sustained, among other things, bodily injury, great physical pain and suffering, loss of capacity to lead and enjoy a normal life, loss of earnings, disfigurement and scarring.

He is seeking payment for lost wages and for depression he says he suffered since the incident. Along with the Yankees and the Cardinals, Young named the Blue Jays, the city of Dunedin and the Florida State League in the suit.

"Certainly there are many jobs you cannot do blind in one eye," Hilbert said. "Loss of your eyesight would also carry a very high noneconomic component. There's going to be a significant psychological component from being blinded."

Baseball ticket stubs state that management, employees and other respective agents are not responsible for personal injury. That covers injuries caused by balls, bats or other factors, Carson said.

An announcement of those risks is also made at the beginning of each game, Carson said.

"We don't generally get sued," he said. "But we do get threats, broken windows and stuff. We have never had a guy lose his eye though, either."

City Attorney John Hubbard said Dunedin is not liable because Young attended the game and assumed the risk of a ball hitting him. He also said the Toronto Blue Jays operate the park, not Dunedin.

Dunedin, he added, has protection from any lawsuits pertaining to Knology Park.

"You go to a ball game and there is a great big assumption of risk about foul balls," he said. "Everybody that attends a baseball game knows that foul balls are a part of life."

But Hilbert dismissed the assertion that baseball fans assume a certain level of risk when they attend a game. And no one expects to be hit when leaving a game, Hilbert said.

"It's one thing to be sitting there and you know the ball's in play, and you're watching it, and there is an expectation that a foul play may come your way," he said. "When you're going into a stadium, or leaving a stadium, there is an expectation of being protected."

Hilbert said the stadium needs more safety precautions, such as wider and higher netting behind home plate. That would protect nearly 100 percent of the tipped balls from going into the stands, he said.

But Hilbert's case is going to be tough to win, said Gil Fried, a specialist in sports law and facility management.

He has testified on behalf of the victims in about a dozen similar cases. The victims lost in every one.

"The argument a lot of people make is this is my first ballgame, I didn't know there would be foul balls," said Fried, a professor at the University of New Haven. "The courts have been pretty clear. That if you have been to one inning, you know there can be a foul ball."

Fried said he thinks about 100 people are hospitalized each year because of foul balls. He condemns the baseball league for not doing more to protect the fans, such as making the netted screen higher and wider and posting warning signs around the stadium.

Does somebody have to get killed before the league changes its rules? he asked.

He cited a 2002 case in Columbus where a 13-year-old girl was hit and killed by a hockey puck. The National Hockey League now requires safety nets in its arenas.

"A death of a fan, and people scared to go to the games," Fried said. "Will that impact baseball?"

Fried said that generally to win these cases, the victim has to show that there was a distraction at the game.

For example, if a costumed mascot was dancing in front of a fan's face, preventing him from seeing a foul ball heading his way, then the stadium could be responsible, he said.

But Young's misfortune hasn't robbed him of his passion for baseball. He was at the Blue Jays' spring training opener this year, Carson said.

--Megan Scott can be reached at 445-4167 or mscott@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 14, 2005, 01:15:22]