Catcher sues baserunner for collision (co-ed ball)

[Dakota]

Check this out:

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

[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.

[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