Ides of March 2009

Sunday, Mar. 15, 2009 - 1:52 a.m.

Okay. It helped to have a day off.

I've decided to plant some roses in memoriam.

Now, I don't know where I'll exactly do that, since I don't personally have a yard.

Currently I'm entertaining the thought of a guerrilla gardening somewhere in Golden Gate Park.

But you didn't see that and I didn't write it.

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The logistics involved in me heading to Vacaville to work with Alan now include the following non-negotiable parameters:

I have to be able to get up there on my own, or hitch a private ride.

I am allowed to use the ferry to get as far as Vallejo where I can be retrieved, but I am NOT allowed to use Greyhound, either way. Don't bug me about why not, because the reasons are private and the answer is still no. Ditto with Amtrak. No.

The main sticker is how to get back home to SF without inconveniencing the Brownlees.

John is no longer capable of making this drive, and I don't know how late the ferries run.

So! Tis a puzzlement.

I'll figure something out eventually but at least it's nice to just be able to spread it all out here and have a look at it.

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In the Liability department, I find this article from the Des Moines Register courtesy of FARK:

A state Supreme Court ruling that allows a Bettendorf woman to sue over injuries her daughter suffered when she was struck with an errant bat at a minor-league baseball game threatens the spirit of America's pastime, according to a judge who said his fellow justices have "taken a mighty swing ... and missed by a mile."

Justice Mark Cady's critique of Friday's 5-2 decision said generations of baseball fans have known that the potential for injury from a foul ball or shattered bat is part of the game's fabric.

Cady's lengthy dissent argues that the decision to let Cynthia Sweeney's lawsuit go forward has "changed the game."

"With this decision, America's pastime risks becoming a different, or less frequent, event for children than enjoyed in the past," he wrote. "There is no joy on this day around Iowa's ballparks."

The lawsuit stems from a June 2003 Quad City River Bandits game in Davenport that Tara Sweeney, 8, attended as part of a field trip organized by the Bettendorf parks and recreation department. Sweeney sat in the third or fourth row of bleachers about 30 feet past third base, beyond the area where a net protects spectators, according to court records.

When Sweeney turned her head to talk to a friend, a player lost control of his bat, which traveled about 120 feet and struck the girl in the head. Her mother had signed a liability waiver that absolved the city of responsibility for accidents or injuries on the field trip. But the Sweeneys argued that supervisors of the outing were nonetheless negligent.

A Scott County judge threw out the lawsuit.

But the Supreme Court ruled that the city had "a duty to ... protect the children's safety at the ballpark," adding that a jury could find parks employees put the child in an "unreasonably hazardous location" to watch the game.

Cady wrote, however, that baseballs and bats, or pieces of bats, that occasionally land in the bleachers are a known and traditionally acceptable part of the sport and that the case "should be thrown out by a call made with relative ease."

Friday's decision moves the case back to Scott County court. Neither Cynthia Sweeney nor her attorney could be immediately reached for comment.

It's generally recognized that spectators can't sue for being hit by a foul ball, but the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2005 ruled in favor of a fan struck by a ball while in line to buy beer. The New Jersey justices said there should be no expectation that the fan could pay attention while in a concession line. That spurred legislators to pass a law that protects stadium owners from lawsuits.

Steve Grimes, director of parks and recreation in Bettendorf, declined to comment on Friday's ruling but said the city still organizes field trips for children to see River Bandits games.

Okay. This is a question of what qualifies as 'reasonable expectation' at a ball game.

My hubbins, who is a liability claims consultant, says it is a reasonable expectation for a minor league baseball player to retain complete control of his bat throughout the entire duration of the swing. He's being paid to hold onto that bat and to hit the ball with it. When he is standing at home plate, that's the only thing he is supposed to be doing. The bat didn't fly out of his hands of its own accord (LOVED the 'lost control of his bat' bullspeak.), his negligent handling of the bat was what caused the injury.

People sitting down past third base have a reasonable expectation to not be hit by a flying, fully-intact baseball bat. The other debris, such as foul balls and bat fragments? Yes, those are expected. But NOT an entire bat.

The ruling is correct, and the judge is wrong to dissent.

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All right, that's enough of that. Ware the Ides of March.

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