Little Leaguer's Metal Bat Injury Sparks Lawsuit

[soup]

WAYNE, N.J. (AP) ― The family of a boy who suffered brain damage after being struck in the chest by a line drive off a metal bat while playing baseball filed a lawsuit Monday morning against the manufacturer of the bat, the store that sold it, and against Little League Baseball for giving the bat its seal of approval.

The family of Steven Domalewski, who was 12 years old at the time of the June 2006 incident, filed the lawsuit in state Superior Court in Passaic County. It names Hillerich & Bradsby Co., maker of the 31-inch, 19-ounce Louisville Slugger TPX Platinum bat that hit the line drive that crippled Domalewski.

The suit also will name Little League Baseball and the Sports Authority, which sold the bat. It claims the defendants knew, or should have known, that the bat was dangerous for children to use, according to the family's attorney, Ernest Fronzuto.

"People who have children in youth sports are excited about the lawsuit from a public policy standpoint because they hope it can make the sport safer," Fronzuto said after filing the suit Monday morning. "There are also those who are skeptical of the lawsuit and don't see the connection between Steven's injury and the aluminum bat."

Steven was pitching in a Police Athletic League game when he was hit just above the heart by a line drive. His heart stopped beating and his brain was deprived of oxygen for 15 to 20 minutes, according to his doctors.

Although he was not playing in a Little League game, Little League is being sued because they gave their seal of approval to the bat, certifying it as safe for use by children, Fronzuto said.

Little League denies any wrongdoing, as does the bat manufacturer. The Sports Authority has not responded to several telephone messages seeking comment.

This is ridiculous.... Blame the bat, the company who made it and the league for using it.... While a sad and tragic injury for the child, he was playing a sport where injuries are entirely possible. What do they expect? To play with Nerf bats and balls now? When will these ridiculous lawsuits end?

[schr8er2000]

The lawsuits will NEVER end... WHY ??? Because we have parents that think everything in the world is safe and beautiful. We have lawyers that JUMP on cases like this to get their names in the paper. We have judges that refuse to throw out stupid lawuits like this and we have juries that award huge sums to people for being stupid ( $6 million for the McDonalds coffee that was HOT ).....

Anyone can sue anyone else for anything... and they keep going and going and going.... like the Energizer Bunny.

Its amazing they didnt sue the company that made the baseball too... as that was the item that caused the injury.. not the bat....... OH OH .... maybe gave them another one to sue.....

Take your kids and place them in a little rubber room to keep them safe if you dont want them to get boo boo's...

I feel sorry for the child that has these problems but it is NOT a perfect world people.... Get use to it....

[PisnNapalm]

Would it make them feel better if their son were beaned by a ball hit from a wooden bat? I feel bad for them and their son but a lawsuit isn't the answer.

Injuries happen in sports. Either deal with them or put your kids into a rubber rooms for their own protection.

The reason Little League uses metal bats is because they don't break and fly into pieces as wooden bats can. The metal bats are designed so that they replicate the hits made by wooden bats. (Atleast that's what I was told by someone in our Little League.)

[bogey1]

im all for the banning of aluminum bats in baseball, little league supposedly is going to have a ban on them soon (hopefully). ok back to the lawsuit. as long as humans continue to breathe there will be frivolous lawsuits like this one..

[nfafan]

im all for the banning of aluminum bats in baseball, little league supposedly is going to have a ban on them soon (hopefully). ok back to the lawsuit. as long as humans continue to breathe there will be frivolous lawsuits like this one..

Agree on all counts. The AL bats definately pound the ball harder as the ball leaves the surface of the bat that much faster.
When I was a kid, we had wood - the AL bats were just starting to trickle out. When my kid was in P-Nut/Little League and so forth, you had AL and graphite/carbon bats - wooden bats were for adults/prehistoric.

The AL bats have no place in young hands.

Regardless, its not the bat or the ball or the pitcher or the sun or the sky's fault - it was a freakin accident.

If today's parents want their little darlings kept perfectly safe - put their fat little asses in front of the TV set.

[spabula]

having a son about the same age, I feel bad for the family. It is tragic. However, it is a sport, people do get hurt, kids included. Of course we never think it will never happen to our kids and we play the odds.... how many years was he already playing ball for? Unless this was his first year I have a hard time believing they knew nothing of these mysterious bats. It is nobodys fault... it was an accident... those things happen in life. the ball hitting him at the odd time it did is what caused the problem. There was the kid that died from getting hit by a pitch (no bat!!) the same way. Suing will not bring their son back to health, but I guess it'll make them feel better.
Next thing you know some kid might get hurt playing football or hockey!!
I think we should ban all sports and let our children sit in their rooms and melt their brains with video games. They don't need social interaction they can always talk to their friends in text or I'M. ( this last part was obviously a joke, sarcasm is hard to type )

[LorDiego01]

We have judges that refuse to throw out stupid lawuits like this and we have juries that award huge sums to people for being stupid ( $6 million for the McDonalds coffee that was HOT ).....

You may want to actually look at the merits of the case before passing judgment on this one. At first I thought like you, but then I read up on it and came to the conclusion that yes, indeed, McDonalds was in the wrong (BIG TIME!!).


EDIT : Oh yeah.. I feel sorry for the family, but they are retards for trying to sue. Its sports. Injuries happen in sports. This was a freak accident. Freak accidents happen in life. Next time lock your kids up in a padded room and they will never get hurt.

[Mabuz]

It's a shame that the kid got hurt, but come one, blaming the bat? It's called real life for a reason...wait for it...

IT'S REAL...not a fantasy. Shit happens, it's a risk everyone takes every day.












Maybe someone will start an anti-AL bat group now...Mothers agains AL Bats.

[bogey1]

it is a shame what happened to that kid. freak accident. im sure the parents knew long ago even before there son was able to play the sport that AB's are dangerous. i know there dangerous, i still let my kid play. sure i want them banned form LL, the delco league semi pro league banned them. my point is why let your kid participate in a dangerous sport using dangerous equipment? isnt that being negligent?

[reels18]

Aluminum bats are legal to make and use. How can a company that makes these things be held liable?

The product functioned as advertised. The child was not injured because the product malfunctioned or was shoddily made.

It is tragic what happened to that kid, but holding the company that produced the bat responsible for the injury is foolish.