Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Spectators at baseball games assume the risk of a variety of injuries—balls and even bats sometimes hit fans and can cause serious injuries. A Philadelphia Phillies fan recently tried to get around the law of assumption of the risk, but he struck out when the Pennsylvania Superior Court threw his case out.

The spectator suffered serious eye and head injuries when he was hit by a ball thrown into the stands by a Phillies center fielder. The center fielder intentionally tossed the ball at the end of an inning, to serve as a souvenir for a lucky fan. Unfortunately, no fan caught the ball, and the injured spectator sued, claiming that, while he assumed the risks associated with the play of the game, he did not assume the risk of being hit by a ball intentionally thrown into the stands.

The court disagreed. Because professional baseball fans routinely arrive early for batting practice in hopes of retrieving an errant baseball as a souvenir, and because fans routinely battle to retrieve balls landing in the stands via home runs or foul balls, the court found that many risks occur at baseball games in connection with souvenir balls. The court also observed that both outfielders and infielders are known to toss caught balls to fans at the end of an inning.

Pennsylvania law provides that even first-time attendees at sporting events are presumed to know the customary risks that arise from sitting in the stands. Those risks are not confined to events that take place during game play, but include just about anything that can happen at a sporting event.

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