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Thu Aug 14, 2003, 01:33pm
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But once you take controll of the placement of the discarded bat, you might have assumed some type of duty to place it in a safe location. If you "kick it" into the path of the ondeck batter who is moving to coach the scoring runner, and she trips on the bat you placed in her path and she breaks her ankle, then-----
If I'm representing the umpire/defendant, I beleive I would rather be able to argue that the umpire had no controll of the placement of the bat, and that players assume the risk of participation. JMO Roger Greene 
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Thu Aug 14, 2003, 03:41pm
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I agree. Why my ASA Commissioner told me to leave the bats alone was to avoid lawsuits. If I take that bat and place it outside the field of play and someone in the crowd steps on it and gets hurt, I'm liable, let alone if I move it on the field and a player is injured. The moment you touch that bat intentionally you are responsible for everything that follows that it is a part of. I agree this is moronic, but, if you don't think there is an ambulance chaser that will sue, I've got some land for sale you may be interested in. And in some lawsuits, it doesn't make any difference if you win or lose. They take years and cost $$$$$$$$$$$$$.
__________________
"Softball games are like church: many attend - few understand"
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Thu Aug 14, 2003, 04:25pm
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Sued for moving? Sued for not moving?
And if you trip over it, do you sue the batter?
I've got over 20 years of kicking them out of the way. I'm not sure how many bats/kicks that is, but no one hit yet. And no lawsuits.... also no runners or catchers with broken body parts due to tripping over the bat. Being a podunk from the country, perhaps I just haven't met up with the 'wrong' ambulance chaser yet. Knock on wood!  Dammit! Where's a wooden bat when you need it?
__________________
"There are no superstar calls. We don't root for certain teams. We don't cheat. But sometimes we just miss calls." - Joe Crawford
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Thu Aug 14, 2003, 04:45pm
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We are also instructed by our UIC to leave the bats alone for the legal reasons as stated above.
In the mid 80's, we had an Umpire who was hit with a $25k judgement. After a foul ball went out of play (over the fence) he took one from his ballbag and tossed it back to the pitcher. Just at that moment her coach called to her and she looked away. Ball hit her in the mouth, knocking some teeth out. The legal argument used was "Where in the rules is it the Umpire's responsibility to return balls to the pitcher?" (Hey don't flame me, it's what happened.) Because it was not a SPECIFIC duty of the Umpire, he incurred the liability of the throw. We are now also told to NEVER return a ball to the pitcher, hand it to the catcher. So we don't move bats and we don't throw balls. We make decisions and rulings. Sad, but true.
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