Fan Hit By Bat At Marlins Game Has Ruptured Spleen

[matcom]

<snip>

MIAMI -- A woman was hospitalized with a ruptured spleen Thursday, two days after she was hit in the stands by Shawn Green's flying bat during a Marlins-Diamondbacks game.

Karen Wellmeyer was injured Tuesday night and was in serious but stable condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital, husband John Wellmeyer told The Associated Press on Thursday. He said his 37-year-old wife was expected to recover and doctors hope to avoid surgery.

"Every time I go in there to see her, she looks better," he said. "Right now, it's wait and see."

John Wellmeyer said they were sitting behind the first-base dugout at Dolphins Stadium with their two young children when Green's bat sailed into the stands in the top of the fifth inning and struck his wife in the side.

"That thing was on us right away," he said. "I dove over my son on my right side. ... Once I realized it wasn't coming toward him and it was coming toward my wife, it just drilled her."

He said stadium ushers and a nurse sitting behind the couple helped his wife until paramedics arrived. Karen Wellmeyer had internal bleeding and fell in and out of consciousness at the stadium, her husband said.

The Boca Raton woman was taken to a nearby hospital Tuesday night before being moved to Jackson Memorial in Miami, where she was expected to stay for about a week, her husband said.

http://www.wftv.com/irresistible/4837771/detail.html

[benburch]

1. Poor woman.

I hope the team's insurance pays them off without the grief of a suit.

[rsdsharp]

11. They have no suit.

The ticket contains a waiver of damages for injuries from bats or balls.

[benburch]

12. That waiver is void.

As are all such waivers.

[rsdsharp]

13. Well, no, such waivers can certainly be vaild.

Whether the theory is waiver, or assumption of the risk, it's quite clear that there is no suit:

Romeo v. Pittsburgh Associates, 787 A.2d 1027 (Pa.Super.,2001); Alwin v. St. Paul Saints Baseball Club, Inc., 672 N.W.2d 570 (Minn.App.,2003); Tucker v. ADG, Inc., 102 P.3d 660 (Okla.,2004); Thurmond v. Prince William Professional Baseball Club, Inc., 574 S.E.2d 246 (Va.,2003); Nemarnik v. Los Angeles Kings Hockey Club, L.P., 127 Cal.Rptr.2d 10 (Cal.App.,2002); Hobby v. City of Durham, 569 S.E.2d 1 (N.C.App.,2002); Benejam v. Detroit Tigers, Inc., 635 N.W.2d 219 (Mich.App.,2001).

[wtmusic]

2. Shawn Green better get his ass down to the hospital

I hope he was called out

[rsdsharp]

4. Called out? For what?

You mean in the sense of "Out number 2?" Letting a bat fly isn't grounds for making an out. Or do you mean in the sense of confronting him for his actions? You think he did it deliberately? That's nonsense. Look at the back of any ticket to a professional baseball game. It expressly tells the holder that there is a danger of balls and bats flying into the stands. It's also an express waiver of liability. I'd guess that Green feels sorry for the lady, but not guilty.

[wtmusic]

5. Even little leaguers get called out for throwing a bat

there should be a rule in the majors too.

I don't think he did it deliberately, just that he's a careless asshole. He could have killed her, and it's totally preventable. It's in no way comparable to getting hit with a ball.

[rsdsharp]

6. There is no such rule in professional baseball.

Had he done it deliberately, such as throwing a bat at a pitcher, he would have been ejected, but not called out.

It is NOT totally preventable. Professional players do not hold the bat the same way little leaguers do. You can't hit a 90+ mph fastball holding the bat in your palms without killing your hands. They hold the bat in the crease where the fingers meet the palm. That's why they use pine tar and rosin -- to help with the grip. Even then, it occasionally slips, even if the player is healthy. If he has a hand injury it's more likely to slip. And you can't really think getting hit with a bat is more dangerous than being hit with a line drive at 110-125 mph.

[wtmusic]

7. bullshit

"they don't hold the bat the same way"--what a crock. :eyes:

[rsdsharp]

10. Well, no, not really.

You apparently have a son or daughter who plays in Little League. Hand him or her a bat and look at how the hands are alinged when in a batting stance. The bat will almost certainly be held in the palms with both hands making full fists. Then get a picture or baseball card of a major leaguer holding a bat. The hands won't be fully closed fists. In fact the knuckles of the index fingers won't line up with the other three. It's because the bat isn't being held in the palms.

[CBGLuthier]

8. He didn't throw the bat

Other articles refer to the bat cracking. I think it broke and a piece of it hit the woman.

For some reason, this paragraph was changed or missing in most of the reports.

I saw the bat crack and saw it was coming toward us," Wellmeyer said. "When I looked toward my wife, I saw it going toward her. I was frozen. It was incredible how fast it got to her."


So he may or may not be an asshole but I don't think he was careless in this case.

[wtmusic]

9. ah OK

different story. thanks.

[XNASA]

3. Bat Hit By Marlin Spleen At Game. Fan Ruptured.

Didn't think this one deserved it's own copycat thread. :shrug: