Aluminum Baseball Bats

[G-Man]

A little leaguer in NJ was hit by a line drive, a direct hit to the heart, causing it to stop long enough to deprive his brain of oxygen, causing severe brain damage.  Little League, Sports Authority, and the bat manufacturer settled for $14.5 Million.

Now, there has been an aluminum bat controversy since I played little league ball in the 70's.  This time it's that the ball comes of the bat faster than it would off of a wooden bat.  I don't know how that can be measured or even taken into account as different batters hit balls with different force depending on so many factors.  A shot to the heart, with enough force to cause brain damage has to be greater than a 1 in a million shot.

My thinking is that the family's lawyer strongarmed the settlement by saying they'll go for $50 million or  $100 million unless they settle.  What kind of precedent does this set?  Yes, a terrible thing has happened, but I can't see fault here.  Had the boy been standing a inch to the left, he'd have a black and blue and be playing in the next game.  If the batter swung a millimeter higher or lower, or if he swung a millisecond sooner or later.  This was like the perfect storm.  What if the boy was a better player and caught the ball, or at least had the glove in front of it.  Maybe he wasn't paying attention or in a defensive stance when the pitch was thrown, etc, etc.

[Willow]

More likely, the manufacturer weighed the expected costs of the negative publicity resulting from their fighting the case.  The net effect is that everyone buying a little league bat will be paying a little bit more because of the added cost of that settlement.

When a slick lawyer obtains an unreasonable settlement, or a greedy victim manages to hold up an insurance company for more than he or she actually lost, they've stolen from us all.

[old2soon]

When my boys played little league in Texas ALL the boys parents had to sign releases waivers what ever they were called at the time. No signature-no play. My oldest daughter played and i had to sign the paper. I'm NOT saying that young man was wrong but every year about now we have young men playing football that will die. A lot of sports are dangerous. It's up to the parents to figure out with the son or daughter if the rewards outweighs the risk. I grieve right along with the parents when the worst case scenario befalls a family. No-i don't have the answer. I do agree with Carl though. RIDE SAFE.

[steve 3054]

Willow:When a slick lawyer obtains an unreasonable settlement, or a greedy victim manages to hold up an insurance company for more than he or she actually lost, they've stolen from us all.

We all pay for these type things, I have sponsored a couple of teams in my area in the past and now that price will go up .  Hopefully not to the point were people can't afford to help the kids.  While sad, the true travesty is no one in the area knew CPR.

[Alien]

From a medical perspective what happens (basicly) is that the ball strikes the player in an area that compresses the heart between beats, thus disrupting it's rythm.  It's a one in a million shot and is very rare although not unheard of.  The same could happen with a wooden bat, falling down, a fistfight, etc...anything that disturbs the heart's natural rythm can lead to cardiac arrest and resulting brain damage due to the brain being deprived of oxygen for a prolonged period.

That being said, my heart goes out to the family.  However, I don't think that this is a reason to keep your kids out of little league or ban alminum bats.  At most, I'd say that perhaps the pitchers might want to wear chest protection.

A real solution would be for adults to be trained in CPR and, even better, have an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) on hand as part of the team's first aid kit.  That would be an ideal situation for an AED to restore a normal sinus rythm.

[donaldcc]

  this seems like just lawyer bashing and ranting without knowing more.  $14.5 mil does not seem exorbitant for the NEGLIGENT injury to a young boy who likely needs 24/7 care for the rest of his life.  the question is "was the bat producer negligent?".

  Aluminum bats are used because they save $$$$.  teams are not having to replace broken wooden bats.    "This time it's that the ball comes of the bat faster than it would off of a wooden bat. I don't know how that can be measured or even taken into account as different batters hit balls with different force depending on so many factors (G-man)". Testing comparisons between metal and wood are not difficult.  No question that the BBS (batted ball speed) and the BESR (ball exit speed ratio) is higher for metal.  Aluminum bat technology has increased since 70's allowing for lighter weight bats with faster swing speed.  NCAA has evaluated extensive tesing and disallowed "composite" bats and regulate weight to length because of this. 

  NCAA now uses the BBCOR (batted ball coefficient of restitution) that sort of measures the trampoline effect.  As technology progressed, "composite" bats were banned because of excess BBCOR and BBS. 


"The net effect is that everyone buying a little league bat will be paying a little bit more because of the added cost of that settlement.

When a slick lawyer obtains an unreasonable settlement, or a greedy victim manages to hold up an insurance company for more than he or she actually lost, they've stolen from us all (Willow)".

  so to jump right in without knowing enough facts and accusing those in this incident of being "slick lawyers" or "greedy victims" that are portrayed as thieves seems to me to be hasty judgment. I for one would not want an UNSAFE, DANGEROUS part on my Valkyrie just because it saved money. Now Valk related. 

  maybe the settlement was bad and completely out of line, but I do not know enough facts to say that and though my kids are adults, I would hate to be caring for a paralyzed or brain impaired child from an unsafe product.

[G-Man]

injury to a young boy who likely needs 24/7 care for the rest of his life.  .......... I would hate to be caring for a paralyzed or brain impaired child .....

We all feel bad for the kid and the family.  But law should never be based on feelings. 

The bat did not harm the child.  A miriad of circumstances hurt that child.  The speed and placement of the pitch (pitcher), The eye/hand coordination of the batter and the speed at which he swung the bat, how tightly he held the bat, The size and strength of the batter, the position of the kid playing the field, maybe a whistle or cheer from a parent made the kid look away for a second, maybe a dog barked, the coach for putting the kid at that position, the car that drove the kid to the park, etc, etc.

To blame the bat doesn't make sense.

Yes, the rate at which a ball comes off a bat can be measured in a lab, and the circumstances can be recorded to reproduce that rate.  But on a little league ball field, that all goes out the window due to everything I mentioned above, plus many more factors.

This was a terrible accident with an even more terrible outcome.  Nobody disputes this, but it doesn't feel good to say these things.  It does feel good to say that the family should have all their bills paid because it's such a tragedy. 

If this is the case, then the gun manufacturers would be paying out for every incident where someone was hurt or killed.  And the car manufacturers as well.  What if a kid tripped over a base and hit his head hard enough to cause intracranial bleeding and he suffered a stroke?  Do we go after the base manufacturer?


And why do people use yellow font that can't be seen on a white background?

[Willow]

  this seems like just lawyer bashing and ranting without knowing more. 
...
  maybe the settlement was bad and completely out of line, but I do not know enough facts to say that and though my kids are adults, I would hate to be caring for a paralyzed or brain impaired child from an unsafe product.

If it seems I was criticizing all lawyers, the fault would be in the reading.  The modifier, slick, would not have been needed except to distinguish one from the many who are not oily.

It really doesn't seem to me that it would take all that much information to realize the incident wasn't the result of neglect on the part of the bat manufacturer.  Of all the parties possibly involved, the bat manufacturer was singled out because they had the deepest pockets and the most motivation to avoid the publicity of a public trial.  That the difference in speed between an aluminum bat and a wooden bat was the reason for the damage would be laughable but for the seriousness of the injury.

I do have an axe to grind regarding attorneys.  I don't know for certain, but I highly suspect the attorney's fee in this case was a percentage of the settlement, probably between ten and fifty percent.  That would mean that for fleecing the bat company, the attorney received between 1.45 million and 7.25 million dollars.  I find that outrageous.

If, on the other hand, the attorney took the case pro bono I apologize for my jumping to the wrong conclusion.

I wonder why didn't they collect from the ball manufacturer?

I too would hate to be burdened with the care of a brain injured child resulting from a tragic accident, but I don't believe it would occur to me to blame the bat.

(Donald, I hope this wasn't your case.    ) 

[G-Man]

I wonder why didn't they collect from the ball manufacturer?

Because the ball was a victim as well.  Afterall, it WAS hit by the bat, too!  They just haven't figured out how to sue on behalf of an inademate object,.....yet.   

[Oss]

Dont the good bulletproof vests also have blunt trauma metal plates over the heart center chest

I seem to recall looking at a vest some years back and asking what the pocket was for and being told whats the use of stopping the bullet if your heart stops

Will leagues start putting those pockets into uniforms with little removable plastic or metal plates in em?

Also when I was a kid I dont think they even let us play with the metal bats

So to save money, the league allows metal bats to save a few hundred dollars a year

Hmmmmmmmmm

I am not sure I buy the foreseeabilty argument on the case I would imagine assumption of
the risk (if there was a release like we had in AYSO ) should have ruled the day but like Jess I was not in Court and did not hear the testimony

Lots of factors come into play in a settlement and we dont know any of them

The insurance company was NOT forced to settle just like they DONT settle cigaratte cases or any auto (IMHO) cases where the policy is 25000.  They would rather force attorney to pay for the doctors to testify at 5-8ooo for the day while investing the money from inception of the case in a reserve fund

The system aint perfect by no means   some states have sliding scale contingent fees
maybe this is a good idea the lawyer gets less % before trial, an amount for trial etc
I dont specialize in accident cases for a number of years but I agree that sometimes the numbers seem a bit crazy on all sides. EVeryone must be unhappy with any progress that means anything IMHO

[Jess from VA]

The going rate is a third, after expenses (which can be tens of thousands of bux).

The argument in favor of contingent fees is many/most have no financial ability to bankroll an expensive litigation.  And this is surely true.

The argument against is that it fosters a whole huge plaintiff's bar that drives up expenses for everyone who creates some sort of risk (real or imagined) for a living, and all of us who buy their goods and services.  This is also true.

I hate regulations, but believe the contingent fee system has to be lowered to fair market value of work expended.  And limits to damages, esp punitive damages.  Settlements are a heck of a lot less work than trials, though serious/expensive prep work often is necessary to drive a decent settlement.

When I left the VA I was asked repeatedly why I didn't switch sides and go private with my experience in VA disability claims and litigation.  I could easily make 20-30K working only part time. The lions share of the work is on a contingent fee basis.  1) I was sick of the work, and hope to never see it again.  2) I could not stomach making a living taking a percentage of indigent veteran's VA benefits and taxpayer funded EAJA fees.

More companies ought to stand up and fight these nuisance suits, but the cost of defending against a decent plaintiff's firm is almost always more expensive than settling.  And you run the risk of runaway juries (urban, where the suits are filed) who often love to give away your farm.  

[Willow]

Jess, I agree.  I am not entirely against contingent fees.  They have their place.  I am appalled at contingency fees applied to settlements in the millions (assuming that percentage exceeds reasonable fair value for services) and especially after expenses have already been removed from the settlement.

I also hold to blame juries willing to grant unreasonably high damages. 

I'm not a lawyer and I did not stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.   

[donaldcc]

 me, i'm not defending or attacking this matter.  just saying that like many posts here, some seem to have strong opinions without knowing a lot about the subject of those opinions.  i like to know as many facts as possible before making mine.

 G-man, sorry about yellow, but my background is gray with white txt so the yellow seems easier to read for me.  Willow if it were my case, i would know the facts as much as possible and would base my opinion on them and would not be questioning things here.  Oss as a lawyer you must see senseless lawyer bashing frequently. but also see that while professions like law and medicine get a lot of bashing (much of it deeserved), when people need them, they want the best possible on their side.  Jess, as a lawyer, i'm quite sure you sought out the facts before moving forward with your clients, rather than rushing to form an opinion.

 that said, i do have an opinion that there are many problems with our legal system and would initially think OMG $14.5 mil for getting hit by a baseball??    I hope i would then take a step back to make sure i didn't "rush to judgment" as i have done many times before, sometimes disappointed that i did.  

and as someone wiser than me has said,

That's all I have to say about that.



 

.
 

[Bob E.]

I doubt cost of the bats was the reason for using aluminum.  Have you seen the costs of those things lately...especially the top shelf ones?  My brother's kids play softball and they use composite bats, which they have to provide for themselves.  They run about $200 to $250 and up.  His older daughter broke 2 of them in a weekend.  They were only about a year old.

Aluminum and composite bats are used for their performance.  Plus, I once saw someone make the arguement that when a wooden bat breaks, it generally breaks with a sharp point that could stab the pitcher, or whoever.  I don't know if that's the case.  But I do know when the compoite bats break, they generally just have the fat part break clean from the handle...at least that's how my neice's broke.  I've never seen an aluminum bat break.

[cookiedough]

I could be wrong but here in WI I heard the WIAA has banished high schools to use certain types of aluminum bats and downgrade the material so the ball doesn't come off the bat as hard and fast and thus decreasing home runs, etc.    Even during high school girls' softball games the pitchers are required to wear a face shield in case they get line drived the ball right back at them. 

[G-Man]

Some of the little leaguers use the aluminum bats because they are lighter, allowing them to use a full size bat, rather than a shorter wooden bat.

[Big Rig]

I coach little league baseball, there are specific rules that allow certain bats and dis-allow others. Parents (some) make arguments about dis-allowed bats bc they paid HUGE $$$$ money for them. As a coach it is always easy to say NO when the players safety comes into play. We also have a mandatory chest protectors for pitchers. I feel for the little ball player and his/her family.

I am not sure how this case was heard, if it was a jury and anywhere near Philly, that would explain the extrodinent payout. Seems the Philadelphia area has one of the countries highest payouts for lawsuits when it comes to personal injury.

About a month ago, we had a mother of little leaguer sue another little leaguer because she got hit in the head with a baseball. She will win her case if she has not already.