Wood v. Alunimum Bats Injury prevention

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Fri, 06/06/2008 - 21:35.

Earlier this month a lawsuit was filed by the Domalewski family of New Jersey.

The New Jersey parents of 12 year old former pitcher Steven Domalewski sued the bat manufacturer Hillerich & Bradsby Co., plus the official Little League organization and the retail outlet Sports Authority, after their then-12-year-old son was struck by a line drive ball right above the heart while he was pitching in a 2006 game.

Steven suffered brain damage after his heart stopped beating because of the blow. Doctors estimate his brain was deprived of oxygen for about 15 to 20 minutes.

The bat in question was a 31-inch, 19-ounce Louisville Slugger TPX Platinum model. The filing attorney claimed the defendants knew, or should have known, the bat could potentially injure youth players not ready for the velocity of a batted ball coming off this particular make of aluminum bat. A major premise in the suit is that aluminum bats cause the ball to travel faster than wooden bats. Has your town or school eliminated metal bats?

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This is a horrific accident,

Submitted by John Dee on Mon, 06/09/2008 - 17:55.

This is a horrific accident, and I stress accident. The law suit is laughable because it's just another example of our society looking to place blame elsewhere. If a ground ball bounces up and hits a kid in the chest, do we sue the owner of the field? This again is a terrible, terrible accident, but to blame the bat company?
This again supports the need for coaches to make sure they have kids on the infield, and especially pitchers, who are paying attention and can catch a ball. It's not fullproof. A kid could get hit in the chest trying to catch a fly ball in the outfield. A major league pitcher just got hit last week in the face with a line drive off of a wood bat.
Again, these things do happen.