Covering All the Bases: Legal News from the World of Baseball

Covering All the Bases: Legal News from the World of Baseball

The Pregame

On July 15—after almost thirty years—Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game returns to the City of Minneapolis, where the best players in the game will be showcasing their talents in front of a packed Target Field. With numerous festivities and exciting events taking place before, during, and after the game, we thought we would take a look at some recent legal stories making headlines from the world of baseball.In a sport like baseball—where a leather-shrouded projectile rockets into the spectator-filled stands, and wooden bats occasionally find their way flyingabove the third-base dugout—it is important to be aware of one’s surroundings. So, when Target Field hosts this year’s Mid-Summer Classic, the attorneys at O’Meara, Leer, Wagner & Kohl would like to use this year’s baseball-related legal issuesas a wayto remind one to stay awake for the action, beware of flying objects, and, as always, remember to mind your P’s and Q’s.

Take me out to the BALLG . . . . z Z Z Z Z Z z zZ

At a televised New York Yankees home game earlier this year, a fan was allegedly mocked by the game’s announcers when cameras captured the fan napping during one of the oldest and most popular rivalries in all of sports: Yankees v. Red Sox. The fan has since filed a defamation suit against Major League Baseball, the New York Yankees, and ESPN for $10 million in damages.

In Minnesota, a suit alleging defamation requires that the plaintiff prove that a statement was false, that it was communicated to someone besides the plaintiff, and that it tended to harm the plaintiff’s reputation and to lower him in the estimation of the community. Rouse v. Dunkley & Bennett, P.A., 520 N.W.2d 406, 410 (Minn. 1994). It will be interesting to see if patrons will intentionally fall asleep Tuesday night.

Take me outwith the Crowd . . . But Please Keep Me Safe

On July 9, a Los Angeles jury found the Dodgers liable for $15 million stemming from injuries to a patron from an assault in the stadium parking lot. The plaintiff’s theory relied upon an argument that lax security created an inviting environment for criminals to prey on fans. The Dodgers have not yet decided whether to appeal. In Minnesota, there is generally no duty to control the conduct of third persons to protect another person. However, under a well-settled exception, the operator of a place of public amusementhas a “special relationship” with guests and is under a duty to provide a reasonably safe atmosphere. Doe v. Brainerd Intern. Raceway, Inc., 533 N.W.2d 617, 621 (Minn. 1995). Fans can expect beefed up security for the All Star game, but conventional wisdom is that the game is a big family draw, with crime not expected to be an issue. However, authorities anticipate the event to be good practice for the 2018 Super Bowl.

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks…Keep the Hotdog

When attending a baseball game, spectators face (and sometimes invite) the inherent risk of a foul ball entering stands, or the rare occasion when the end of a broken bat helicopters out-of-play for a free souvenir. In a baseball game, it is common knowledge that “hard balls are thrown and batted with great swiftness [and] they are liable to be thrown or batted outside the lines of the diamond, and that spectators in positions which may be reached by such balls assume the risk thereof.” Brisson v. Minneapolis Baseball & Athletic Ass’n., 240 N.W. 903 (Minn. 1932).However, most spectators do not expect to be hit by a flying foil-wrapped hot dog.

In an unfortunate accident, “Sluggerrr,” the Kansas City Royal’s lion mascot, injured a fan when throwing a hot dog into the stands, hitting the fan in the eye, and causing the fan to suffer a detached retina. Recently, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that flying hot dogs are not part of the inherent risk of attending a baseball game. That being said, if Twins mascot T.C. Bear is in attendance and offers a fan a hot dog, one would be well advised to politely ask T.C. to handit over and leave the athleticism to the players

Root, root, root for the home team, unless the name is a shame?

Reports suggest that the Cleveland Indians may be taking some high heat in the form of a $9 billion lawsuit over their “offensive” Chief Wahoo logo. Robert Roche, the director of the American Indian Education Center—a Chiricahua Apache and leader of “People Not Mascots”—has reported that he plans to initiate suit against the Cleveland Indians’ organization regarding the allegedly racist Chief Wahoo logo.

It appears that these types of lawsuits may finally be rounding for home. Recently, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) ruled that the name of another Native-American-themed team—the National Football League’s Washington Redskins—was “disparaging” to Native Americans. USTPO’s 2014 decision echoes its previous ruling in 1999, when it called the Redskins moniker disparaging.However, USTPO’s 1999 decision was overturned on appeal by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Interestingly enough, the Court’s decision was based on the doctrine of laches(an unreasonable delay in bringing the claim) rather than on the merits of disparagement. The Washington Redskins have reported that they will appeal USPTO’s most recent decision. It will be intriguing to see if USTPO’s ruling regarding the Washington Redskins is thrown out at the plate as the Indians’organization prepares for suit.

One…Two…Three, Beers Please

This year, of-age baseball fans will have a new experience when indulging in their choicebrew of beer. Making its inaugural All-Star Game debut, DraftServ™—a self-serve beer station—allows fans to choose and pay for exactly how much beer they want at a given time without interacting with cashiers. With DraftServ™, fans can take a walk for half a cup, or go for the grand slam by pouring the maximum of forty-eight ounces within a fifteen-minute period. To purchase one’s favorite beverage, patrons are to show identification at a register, preload money on to a card, and use that card to initiate the self-serve process.

Although an employee will be located at each station to monitor for those who appear too intoxicated, and to check identification of individuals who appear to be under thirty years of age, the risk of dram shop liability may pose a potential problem. The Dram Shop Act was created “to punish an offending vendor and deter others from making illegal sales of liquor, and to compensate those who would under ordinary circumstances or other tort principles obtain no recovery for their injuries.” Hannah v. Chmielewski, 323 N.W.2d 781, 784 (Minn. 1982). The jury is still out on how DraftServ™ will perform in its rookie season.

At the Old Ball Game…

If you can’t make it over to Target Field to watch the game live, be sure to tune in on FOX for the first pitch at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Whatever place you find to enjoy the 85th showing of the Mid-Summer Classic, remember to stay safe, stay awake, and enjoy responsibly.