Catcher sues baserunner for collision (co-ed ball)

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by Dakota

Check this out:

Collision at home plate prompts lawsuit
Female catcher sues male baserunner, Atlanta co-ed softball league

I hope they thump this guy. He is the type of person which causes me to fight to find umpires to work Co-rec ball.

[archangel]

It just doesnt happen in SP coed games here due to the no contact at home league rule that says- to score a run, a runner must cross a chalkline (from the plate to the backstop-perpendicular to (3rd to home) baseline) before catcher has possesion of ball while touching plate. A runner touching home, even with no play at home, is ruled out. This is also true in mens 35+, and older leagues....

[bluezebra]

1..Malicious contact is ILLEGAL. Signing a waiver doesn't make it legal.

2..Why has this slob been permitted to continue in this league AFTER other rough play? She should also sue the league, and its director(s).

Bob

[greymule]

When you play sports, you do assume certain risks inherent to the game. In softball, this would include turning your ankle on a base, accidentally colliding with a fielder, taking a bad hop to the eye, running into a fence, etc.

But a deliberate crash is not an inherent risk. Since rules prohibiting contact were clear to everyone, what this moron did is nothing less than criminal, and I hope he is punished severely.

And what kind of guy crashes a woman, anyway? What is he proving? Does he go home and write in his little book that he scored a run in a co-ed softball game?

Around here, if I saw a guy deliberately injure a woman, I'd grab the cell phone right away and call my pre-programmed number for that township's police, because I guarantee they'd soon be trying to break up a brawl.

In a co-ed game a few years ago, a guy smashed a ball right by the head of the woman pitcher (who is also an umpire I often work with). Next time up he rips one up the middle again. But third time up he nails her in the arm, and she drops to the ground in pain. She was crying when they helped her off the field.

Now where is this guy as people from both teams are tending to her as she lies on the mound? Standing on 1B with his hands on his hips, talking to the 1B coach. Never said a word to her.

[ChrisSportsFan]

Originally Posted by greymule

When you play sports, you do assume certain risks inherent to the game. In softball, this would include turning your ankle on a base, accidentally colliding with a fielder, taking a bad hop to the eye, running into a fence, etc.

But a deliberate crash is not an inherent risk. Since rules prohibiting contact were clear to everyone, what this moron did is nothing less than criminal, and I hope he is punished severely.

And what kind of guy crashes a woman, anyway? What is he proving? Does he go home and write in his little book that he scored a run in a co-ed softball game?

Around here, if I saw a guy deliberately injure a woman, I'd grab the cell phone right away and call my pre-programmed number for that township's police, because I guarantee they'd soon be trying to break up a brawl.

In a co-ed game a few years ago, a guy smashed a ball right by the head of the woman pitcher (who is also an umpire I often work with). Next time up he rips one up the middle again. But third time up he nails her in the arm, and she drops to the ground in pain. She was crying when they helped her off the field.

Now where is this guy as people from both teams are tending to her as she lies on the mound? Standing on 1B with his hands on his hips, talking to the 1B coach. Never said a word to her.

I wondered the same about a fight breaking out. I work in a coed league and many of the players are married or dating. I couldn't imagine not defending my wife if she was pitching and some idiot hit 3 rockets at her.

[jsblanton]

I have played some co-ed softball. Hated it but played. We had a guy crash into our female shortstop (who is probably the best player on the team) while she was waiting to catch a fly ball. I thought the field ump was going to have to be restrained. He was furious. A few innings later, same guy on 1B had the ball stuck in his ear on a double play attempt. Field ump called batter runner out for the interference. I was on the bench just thinking to myself,"I have to go to work tomorrow this is a Sunday afternoon softball game and people are trying to hurt each other. I no longer play.

[greymule]

I couldn't imagine not defending my wife if she was pitching and some idiot hit 3 rockets at her.

Her husband was in fact playing in that game, but in the case of the line drives he didn't do anything. He's no shrinking violet, though: in the last game of the season he challenged a wisea$$ opponent (an ump in my association, no less) who had done some dirty crash or said something or other. So much of that garbage happens, I can hardly keep it straight from year to year.

In that township's co-ed championship game that year, I as BU watched the PU toss a whiner who popped up for the second-to-last out of the game after arguing about a high pitch. The whiner works for a big insurance company—in the same office as the PU who tossed him.

[mcrowder]

Originally Posted by jsblanton

I have played some co-ed softball. Hated it but played. We had a guy crash into our female shortstop (who is probably the best player on the team) while she was waiting to catch a fly ball. I thought the field ump was going to have to be restrained. He was furious. A few innings later, same guy on 1B had the ball stuck in his ear on a double play attempt. Field ump called batter runner out for the interference. I was on the bench just thinking to myself,"I have to go to work tomorrow this is a Sunday afternoon softball game and people are trying to hurt each other. I no longer play.

I'm trying to reconcile a furious BU and an un-ejected runner. I think I'd have restrained my fury, but ejected him without worrying about it. Surprised an enraged umpire didn't toss the player.

[Skahtboi]

Originally Posted by bluezebra

She should also sue the league, and its director(s).

According to the article, she is!

[Paul L]

I haven't researched this in several years, but in California, the leading case on this issue was (and presumedly still is) as follows:

During a Super Bowl halftime informal touch football game including women and men, defendant ran into plaintiff from behind, knocked her down, and stepped on her hand. Defendant continued running until he tagged a ball-carrier hard enough to sprain her ankle. On the preceding play, plaintiff had complained about defendant’s excessively rough play. After several surgeries, Plaintiff's finger was amputated.

California Supreme Court said: ‘A participant in an active sport breaches a legal duty of care to other participants-i.e., engages in conduct that properly may subject him or her to financial liability-only if the participant intentionally injures another player or engages in conduct that is so reckless as to be totally outside the range of the ordinary activity involved in the sport. Defendant was, at most, careless or negligent in knocking over plaintiff, stepping on her hand, and injuring her finger. The conduct is not even closely comparable to the kind of conduct-conduct so reckless as to be totally outside the range of the ordinary activity involved in the sport-that is a prerequisite to the imposition of legal liability upon a participant in such a sport. Defendant was, at most, careless or negligent in knocking over plaintiff, stepping on her hand, and injuring her finger. Accordingly, this case falls within the primary assumption of risk doctrine, and thus the trial court properly granted summary judgment in favor of defendant.’
Knight v. Jewett (1992) 3 Cal.4th 296

[greymule]

Interesting post, Paul L.

The court is probably right in that case, deplorable as the macho man's behavior may have been. Stupid judgment isn't necessarily reckless disregard. Like the guy who kept lining balls back at the woman pitcher. Stupid, but not criminal. The pitcher knows that line drives up the middle can happen.

But a deliberate crash—specifically prohibited by the rules and obviously dangerous even to a fool—may well be over the line.

Of course, by the time the lawyers are through, it will look as if the girl was at fault.

[Dakota]

"Reckless disregard" is an interesting legal concept. Every summer we have cases of parents leaving their children in the car resulting in the child's death due to heat. I heard a radio discussion between two lawyers on whether these parents could be charged. It seemed to boil down to whether they acted with "reckless disregard." If a parent forgot the child was in the back seat and went into work, for example, that would not be reckless disregard; that would be a tragic accident. On the other hand, if the parent left the child in the car and went into work knowing the child was there but assuming the child would be OK, that WOULD be reckless disregard.

Applying what seems to be the principle there, if the runner was only trying to score and lost his balance and crashed into the catcher, that would be a tragic accident. If, OTOH, the runner crashed into the catcher in an attempt to knock the ball loose, that would be reckless disregard. Crashing into a fielder while running full speed to knock the ball loose is prohibited behavior, not normal to play in recreational softball, and for the runner to do this showed reckless disregard for the safety of the catcher.

Seems like a sound argument to me. That probably means it will be tossed out by the court.

[bkbjones]

Originally Posted by Paul L

I haven't researched this in several years, but in California, the leading case on this issue was (and presumedly still is) as follows:

During a Super Bowl halftime informal touch football game including women and men, defendant ran into plaintiff from behind, knocked her down, and stepped on her hand. Defendant continued running until he tagged a ball-carrier hard enough to sprain her ankle. On the preceding play, plaintiff had complained about defendant’s excessively rough play. After several surgeries, Plaintiff's finger was amputated.

California Supreme Court said: ‘A participant in an active sport breaches a legal duty of care to other participants-i.e., engages in conduct that properly may subject him or her to financial liability-only if the participant intentionally injures another player or engages in conduct that is so reckless as to be totally outside the range of the ordinary activity involved in the sport. Defendant was, at most, careless or negligent in knocking over plaintiff, stepping on her hand, and injuring her finger. The conduct is not even closely comparable to the kind of conduct-conduct so reckless as to be totally outside the range of the ordinary activity involved in the sport-that is a prerequisite to the imposition of legal liability upon a participant in such a sport. Defendant was, at most, careless or negligent in knocking over plaintiff, stepping on her hand, and injuring her finger. Accordingly, this case falls within the primary assumption of risk doctrine, and thus the trial court properly granted summary judgment in favor of defendant.’
Knight v. Jewett (1992) 3 Cal.4th 296

For those of you who think common sense may actually rule over law, remember that just because some court in Cali says it's this way doesn't make it so everywhere else. For instance, there was an interesting ruling just a couple years ago from the US Ninth Circuit Court concerning the Pledge of Allegiance. That is one of many from courts both state and federal in Cali that have not made their way east of the Colorado Riverborder with Nevada (i.e. the real United States).

Meanwhile, this ******* should be strung up...or have a certain troll umpire his games -- but that would probably fall under cruel and unusual punishment.

Live from the Gulag of Washington State,

[SC Ump]

"Grober had been ejected from a game two weeks before for aggressively running into the third baseman, court documents show. The umpire claimed it was the first time in 15 years he had felt compelled to take such an action."

Wow. I wonder if that's a 15 year vet where this was only his first ejection or whether he has over 30 years experience and just hasn't done any in the last 15 years. Either way, wow.