Quote :

"Family files lawsuit after 12-year-old seriously hurt with hit off metal bat WAYNE, N.J. -- The family of a boy who suffered brain damage after being struck in the chest by a line drive off a metal bat while playing baseball filed a lawsuit Monday morning against the manufacturer of the bat, the store that sold it, and against Little League Baseball for giving the bat its seal of approval. The family of Steven Domalewski, who was 12 years old at the time of the June 2006 incident, filed the lawsuit in state Superior Court in Passaic County. It names Hillerich & Bradsby Co., maker of the 31-inch, 19-ounce Louisville Slugger TPX Platinum bat that hit the line drive that crippled Domalewski. The suit also names Little League Baseball and the 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." 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, Little League is being sued because they gave their seal of approval to the bat, certifying it as safe for use by children, Fronzuto said. Little League denies any wrongdoing, as does the bat manufacturer. The Sports Authority has not responded to several telephone messages seeking comment."

people in this country fucking disgust me.

5/19/2008 1:18:57 PM

I remember in a little league game (I guess I was about 8 years old) the pitcher got hit by a line drive right square in the nuts. He was on the ground for a good 10 minutes. There were a lot of "owww"s in the crowd, but nobody thought for even a second of suing someone.

5/19/2008 1:27:14 PM

the pussification of america continues!


but seriously, those parents should be sued for creating such a wussy kid. And the kid who hit the ball needs a minor league contract

5/19/2008 1:28:11 PM

Quote :

"his brain was deprived of oxygen for 15 to 20 minutes, according to his doctors. "

dude, this kid probably has very severe brain damage from this. I'm not a lawsuit-happy person, but it is not hard to argue that aluminum bats are unsafe.

5/19/2008 1:28:20 PM

yeah, its called an unlucky coincidence, not a reason for a lawsuit

5/19/2008 1:29:34 PM

he does have permanent brain damage, and I'm sure they want money to pay for taking care of him.

that doesn't justify them filing this bullshit lawsuit though.

5/19/2008 1:29:41 PM

After this lawsuit, the family plans on suing every member of their genealogical tree for not having faster reflexes.

That is unfortunate for the kid, though. But if my son ever loses an eye from a fish hook while casting, I wouldn't consider suing the manufacturer, tackle shop, and the North American Fishing Club.

5/19/2008 1:33:01 PM

Quote :

"the pussification of america continues!"

5/19/2008 1:34:28 PM

I just found this interesting tidbit:

Quote :

"In response to claims that metal bats are more dangerous than their wood counterparts, Darby argues that today's metal bats are manufactured to conform to Ball Exit Speed Ratio (BESR) standards mandated by the NCAA, NFHS, and other governing bodies. The BESR standards are a system of measurements which must be low enough so that the ball rebounds off a metal or composite bat at a maximum speed in the mid-90s—the same speed a ball hit on the sweet spot of a wood bat would produce."

from:
http://www.athleticmanagement.com/2007/03/bat_battle.html

5/19/2008 1:35:15 PM

they need to ban metal bats just cause they sound like shit, especially in college baseball

they dont play college bball and college football with a bunch of different equipment from their professional counterpart (even though the football is a little different size/shape)

5/19/2008 1:38:37 PM

What the hell is a LL "Seal of Approval for safe use"??? And why isn't he suing the ball manufacturer???

5/19/2008 1:40:40 PM

Quote :

"the pussification of america continues!"

5/19/2008 1:47:11 PM

^^I guess it's like trying to sue a company that makes ammo if you're shot by a dangerous weapon, but that was my first thought to haha.

5/19/2008 1:53:48 PM

So, when they switch from metal bats to wooden bats and a kid gets impaled by a wooden one, do we ban baseball all together?

5/19/2008 1:59:57 PM

I refuse to believe that a line drive off a wooden bat would've done anything different. It's well known that a strike to the chest at the perfect moment will stop the heart...it's why I have two extra layers of padding over the heart on my chest protector for hockey.

Anyway,

Quote :

"the pussification of america continues!"

5/19/2008 2:04:23 PM

If this kid was playing anything other than pitcher he should have caught the ball, or at least knocked it down (with his glove, not his chest).

[Edited on May 19, 2008 at 2:08 PM. Reason : .]

5/19/2008 2:07:49 PM

It's an assumed risk.

5/19/2008 2:14:53 PM

Quote :

"the pussification of america continues!"

haha Chris Kelly

5/19/2008 2:14:57 PM

Quote :

"people in this country fucking disgust me."

5/19/2008 2:15:44 PM

I always used wooden bats.

5/19/2008 2:33:52 PM

Quote :

"a boy who suffered brain damage after being struck in the chest"

Epic Fail.

5/19/2008 2:40:07 PM

funny story one of my friends has...

he was playing in some tournament up in virginia back when he was a kid. "some cocky kid" used a wood bat throughout the tourney even though everyone else used a metal bat... when they got back from the tournament, he realized that "some cocky kid" was actually david wright.

5/19/2008 2:47:53 PM

Quote :

"dude, this kid probably has very severe brain damage from this. I'm not a lawsuit-happy person, but it is not hard to argue that aluminum bats are unsafe. "

Shut the fuck up. I guess we should get rid of pencils too, because I can stab someone with a pencil and kill them. Its not hard not to argue that pencils are unsafe.

5/19/2008 2:50:17 PM

this is bullshit

they obviously won't win shit cause there are no grounds to go in, but i feel bad for the company and rec league for having to go through this and spend money on it

5/19/2008 2:56:33 PM

Quote :

"people in this country fucking disgust me."

5/19/2008 3:05:27 PM

^^^I'm didn't mean to say I thought a lawsuit was in order in this situation, but this is a very sad situation. If I were a parent and this happened to my kid I wouldn't sue, but if I truly thought that it would not have happened had they been using wooden bats it would be a difficult thing to reconcile.

and that argument has absolutely nothing to do with metal/wooden bats but, gg.

[Edited on May 19, 2008 at 3:11 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on May 19, 2008 at 3:12 PM. Reason : .]

5/19/2008 3:10:45 PM

Maybe if he thought it was dangerous he shouldn't have been playing. Or maybe if they just let him die out there they wouldn't need money to pay for taking care of him. I'm guessing they are saying because of the weight that it is unsafe, but a heavier bat swung at slightly less speed would do the same thing because it has more weight behind it. right?

5/19/2008 3:14:00 PM

Quote :

"I remember in a little league game (I guess I was about 8 years old) the pitcher got hit by a line drive right square in the nuts. He was on the ground for a good 10 minutes. There were a lot of "owww"s in the crowd, but nobody thought for even a second of suing someone."

Quote :

"But if my son ever loses an eye from a fish hook while casting, I wouldn't consider suing the manufacturer, tackle shop, and the North American Fishing Club."

i definitely don't argee with the lawsuit, but

hit in the nuts + losing an eye << brain dead

5/19/2008 3:15:13 PM

^sure but it doesn't matter b/c its an assumed risk. sure its a 0.00001% chance of it happening, but it CAN happen.

Quote :

"people in this country fucking disgust me."

[Edited on May 19, 2008 at 3:19 PM. Reason : if you want to protect yourself from everything, have fun doing nothing]

5/19/2008 3:17:59 PM

^^^the innate risk of the activity is assumed. I think the point of the lawsuit is that a certain piece of equipment unnecessarily increased that risk over another, readily available piece.

[Edited on May 19, 2008 at 3:20 PM. Reason : .]

5/19/2008 3:20:36 PM

When I was in Little League, I hit a line drive off the pitcher's face. It rolled right to the first baseman, who picked it up and stepped on the bag. I was out. The pitcher got checked out by his coach, but was ok.

I guess if I could hit it harder, my playing career in baseball would have extended past the age of 15

5/19/2008 3:45:31 PM

this reminds me of the bit from Friday Night Lights (the show), where Jason Street's parents are suing the school and the coach.

my first thought is that i wouldn't sue anyone, but i don't have a kid so i don't know how i'd really react.

its easy to say "tough luck" when its not you, but that fact escapes most of you in a deppressing and predictable way.

5/19/2008 3:46:25 PM

The sorrow and hurt that the parents must feel must be awful.

I can't imagine how horrible i'd feel if something like that happened to my daughter.

but suing someone wouldn't bring my daughter back.

I think that even if i was in a situation where some company WAS at fault, if anything i'd be so grief stricken at the loss of my daughter that I would not be able to go through the emotional pain of a trial... for what would be nothing more than money.

And y'all know how much money motivates me....

5/19/2008 3:53:31 PM

I think they will have a hard time proving that a wooden bat would have not produced the same result.

5/19/2008 3:54:19 PM

Maybe they should sue the glove manufacturer since the glove didn't catch the ball.

5/19/2008 3:57:15 PM

Quote :

""people in this country fucking disgust me.""

Quote :

""people in this country fucking disgust me.""

Quote :

""people in this country fucking disgust me.""

Quote :

""people in this country fucking disgust me.""

5/19/2008 4:01:24 PM

I got hit in the eye with a baseball in high school and now one pupil is bigger than the other (0o)

5/19/2008 4:18:07 PM

I was pitching in little league one game and got a line drive straight to the chest that knocked me off the mound. The kid who hit it was a friend of mine and he just stood there in the batters box while I laid on the ground. I was down for a few seconds with no breath...got the fuck up, grabbed the ball, and threw that fucker out....then proceeded to fall back to the ground.

I did have a huge purple/black/yellow circle on my chest for about a week as well as the print of an inseam on my chest. It was pretty awesome.

5/19/2008 4:20:45 PM

one time when i was like 6 (completely unrelated to baseball) i threw a brick and hit some other kid in the face...later on that day we were friends again...maybe kids were tougher back then (not really...but seriously maybe parents were more realistic and less assholish back then)

5/19/2008 4:30:20 PM

I currently have a bruise that's a mirror image of the word "SLOVAKIA" where I took a puck off the top of my arm.

5/19/2008 4:31:58 PM

Quote :

"The suit also names Little League Baseball and the 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."

why aren't the parents suing themselves? they knew or should have known that letting their kid stand in the path of speeding baseballs can be dangerous.

5/19/2008 5:01:35 PM

again:

Quote :

"the innate risk of the activity is assumed. I think the point of the lawsuit is that a certain piece of equipment unnecessarily increased that risk over another, readily available piece."

5/19/2008 5:03:45 PM

and it wasnt even a Little League game...they're suing Little League for saying the bat was safe for kids

thats like if I was playing basketball on an outdoor court and i tripped on the ball and cracked my head open, and I decided to sue the Spalding, the NBA, the owner of the court, etc

^i dont know if metal bats are inherently more dangerous...i remember some 1st or 3rd base coach in AAA i think got hit in the head with a line drive (off a wooden bat) and ended up dying...shit just happens occasionally (albeit very rarely)

i'd like to see the kid get his medical bills taken care of, but nothing else monetarily...and then see metal bats banned from baseball...but not because of danger, but because of the annoying "PING" sound and the fact that its completely different equipment than the MLB

[Edited on May 19, 2008 at 5:05 PM. Reason : .]

5/19/2008 5:04:05 PM

maybe they should have taught their son to finish in the fielding position after he pitches so that he can react to the fucking ball when it gets hit back at him. Fucking idiots

5/19/2008 5:05:41 PM

Quote :

"its easy to say "tough luck" when its not you, but that fact escapes most of you in a deppressing and predictable way."

I can't speak for everyone else, but I'm not at all saying "tough luck". It is a tragedy, for sure.

However, there isn't always someone to blame when shit happens. Sometimes shit just happens. People get terminal cancer. Someone hydro-planes on a road and runs into a pole. Some kid gets hit by a baseball in the exact right spot to stop his heart. The idea that we should sue everyone remotely involved every time a tragedy happens is absurd.

5/19/2008 5:09:34 PM

^^^ I totally agree, and I think it's going to be very difficult for them to prove otherwise. That's just what the basis of the lawsuit is. It's not that he got hurt playing baseball in an unfortunate accident, it's that they are alleging that this accident could have been prevented through the use of different equipment.

[Edited on May 19, 2008 at 5:10 PM. Reason : .]

5/19/2008 5:10:17 PM

^ Absolutely not. Such a hit, if timed correctly, doesn't even have to be that hard for the heart to stop.

5/19/2008 5:18:40 PM

I'm not saying that they're saying that

5/19/2008 5:22:16 PM

Breaking News!!!

Stuart Scott sues Juggs and the Jets!

5/19/2008 5:24:25 PM

Quote :

"why aren't the parents suing themselves?"

Haha I almost said that. They should sue themselves for making an inferior baseball player

5/19/2008 5:41:16 PM