Jury Found Alumnimum Bat Manufacturer at Fault for Death of Athlete

Posted by Terry Zeigler Oct 29, 2009

According to the Los Angeles Times (October 29, 2009), a jury awarded a family a large sum of money stating that the manufacturer of the Lousiville Slugger baseball bat did not adequately warn user of the bat of the possibility of catastrophic injury and/or death from the bat.

Brandon Patch (age 18) died from being hit in the head by a ball hit off of the bat of a Louisville Slugger while he was pitching in an American Legion baseball game in 2003. As unfortunate and devastating as this injury was for the family, I'm not sure bringing a suit against the manufacturer of the bat is a beneficial move for the sport. It opens up the door for hundreds of lawsuits from families whose children were injury by balls hit by an aluminum bat.

The rationale was that the bats "are dangerous because they cause the baseball to travel at a greater speed" (Los Angeles Times, October 29, 2009). The family argued that "their son did not have enough time to react to the ball before it hit him in the head".

Even professional baseball pitchers do not have time to react to a batted ball (and they use wooden bats) and are frequently the victims of balls to the head and face. It is a risk inherent in the sport and in the position.

My fear is that all kinds of lawsuits will be brought on all types of equipment from families of kids that have been hurt. The industry's response will probably be "caution" stickers on the pieces of equipment (just like football helmets) and required educational training of all kids on the risks of catastrophic injury in sports. This will eventually stop the lawsuits, but the underlying cause will still exist.

Rather than bringing lawsuits against the baseball/softball bat undustry, maybe the focus should be on restricting the use of aluminum bats to a younger age group.