Minor League Baseball Gets Call Up to NC COA

For those of you that know me, my bride and I are big fans of minor league baseball, particularly the Greensboro Grasshoppers (we actually had our engagement photos done on the field and our rehearsal dinner there).  The 'hoppers staff allowed me to throw out the first pitch on the "Wedding Night" the night before we were married.  I did not, for the record, bounce the pitch in.  It was a little high and tight, but it got there.  My aspirations to play baseball for the Chicago White Sox remain intact, albeit only in my mind.  Anyway, I digress.

It would seem another aspiring professional baseball player also let one get away from him while warming up before a game. In  Bryson v. Coastal Plain League, Trent Rothlin was warming up with his backstop, Tyler Smith, during a rain delay before his Martinsivlle Mustangs took on the Gastonia Grizzlies (are there Grizzlies in Gastonia?) on June 16, 2009.  For those interested, my google research leads me to conclude that Mr. Rothlin is out of baseball.  He was the 1,061st pick in the 2007 draft.  Tyler Smith likewise appears to be out of the game.

In any event, the plaintiff in this action had elected to sit in the "beer garden" down the third base line which was not protected by a screen.  A warmup pitch got away from Rothlin, striking the plaintiff in the face.  The plaintiff brought suit against the league (and others), seeking compensation for the injuries he sustained.

The trial court granted summary judgment, and the Court of Appeals affirmed, concluding that:  "with regard to thrown or batted balls, operators 'are held to have discharged their full duty to spectators in safeguarding them from the danger of being struck by thrown or batted balls by providing adequately screened seats for patrons who desire them, and leaving the patrons to their choice between such screened seats and those unscreened.'"   The Court went on to note that it is not necessary to provide screened seats for all patrons that desire them, rather, it is enough to provide screen seats in the ares behind home plate.

So what's the takeaway from this?  Not much.  You'll still see me sitting in the beer garden at minor league games.