5 www.loubar.org October 2025 record-breaking baseballs. He paid $450,000 for this baseball, while he paid $3.2 million for Mark McGwire’s record-breaking home run baseball. Popov and Hayashi were disappointed in the auction price, hoping for a sale of over $1 million. Their split of the money went mostly to attorneys’ fees. Another type of legal action centering around the game of base- ball is when a spectator gets injured during a game. Sometimes the lawsuit is brought against the player, and sometimes the defendant is the ballpark owner or operator. An example of the latter is Benejam v. Detroit Tigers, Inc., 635 N.W. 2d 219 (Mich. Ct. App. 2001). Alyssia Benejam, a young girl, attended a Detroit Tigers baseball game with a friend and the friend’s family. They were seated close to the field along the third base line. The stadium, in order to protect spectators, had netting behind home plate, which extended partway down the first and third base lines. Alyssia was seated behind the netting. In spite of that fact, she was injured when part of a batter’s bat broke and a fragment of it flew around the net and crushed her fingers. All were in agreement that the netting was not defective in any way. Alyssia’s parents brought suit on their daughter’s behalf claim- ing that the netting did not extend far enough and that warn- ings about the possibility of projectiles leaving the field were insufficient. They also sued the maker of the bat, Hillerich & Bradsby, but that claim settled. The jury was asked to decide whether the stadium owner had exercised ordinary care in providing reasonably safe premises for Alyssia. The jury re- turned with a verdict for the plaintiffs and awarded $917,000 in noneconomic damages, $56,000 in lost earning capacity and $35,000 for past and future medical expenses. The jury verdict was reversed on appeal, with the appellate court siding with the Tigers that the limited-duty rule absolved them of liability. The limited duty rule provides that an op- erator’s obligation under the law is satisfied when sufficient screening is provided in the most dangerous areas with a sufficient amount of seating for those spectators who want to sit behind netting. The appellate court agreed that the stadium complied with this. The appellate court took into consideration that some baseball fans do not want an obstructed view of the field by sitting behind netting. Additionally, the court stated that “the everyday reality of attending a baseball game includes subjecting oneself to the risk that a ball or bat might leave the field and cause injury.” As to the claim of insufficient duty to warn, the appellate court found that argument to be inconsistent with the limited-duty rule in that spectators know of the dangers of attending a baseball game and the dangers are open and obvious, so the defendant had no obligation to warn about them. In other words, spectators assume at least some risks when attending baseball games. We have probably all attended a sporting event where an unruly or obnoxious fan sitting nearby has somewhat spoiled our experience at the game. Sometimes these fans are escorted out of the game or even arrested for their antics. In 2001, Jef- fery Swiecicki attended a game between the Cleveland Indians and the Toronto Blue Jays at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. The rule in place at Jacobs Field regarding fan behavior reads: Persons using obscene or abusive language, or engaging in any other antisocial conduct offensive to those around them, will be asked by Cleveland Indians personnel to cease this conduct. If the offen- sive conduct persists, those involved will be subject to ejection from the ballpark. Swiecicki cheered and heckled through most of the game, in- cluding taunting players on both teams. Officer Jose Delgado was working as a security guard at the game when Swiecicki’s behavior caught his attention. He saw Swiecicki with a beer in his hand as he was heckling the players, so Delgado told him to cut it out. Swiecicki ignored Officer Delgado, so the security guard approached him and told him he can do this the easy way or the hard way. Delgado grabbed his arm and escorted him out, but the fan jerked his arm away. The two ended up on the ground, and Swiecicki was placed under arrest for aggravated disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He was found guilty, and he appealed. The appellate agreed with Swiecicki that the evidence against him was insufficient to support his convictions. The court held that his words could hardly be found to be offensive to ordinary sensibilities and that some fans may have even agreed with his comments about the players. Additionally, the appellate court concluded that the proof had not shown that he was lawfully arrested, thus the resisting arrest conviction could not be upheld. These are just a few examples of the crossover between the game of baseball and the court of justice. To read more in depth about these cases and others, you might want to check out the Little White Book of Baseball Law by John H. Minan and Kevin Cole. Chief Judge Ann Bailey Smith (Judge Smith) presides in Division 13 of Jefferson Circuit Court. n (Continued from previous page) AUCTION ENDS: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9TH @ 1PMET “Turning Your Assets Into Cash!” AUCTION SOLUTIONS 502-383-2084 | www.AuctionSolutionsLLC.com Elizabeth Monarch, MBA, CAI, GRI Lonnie R. Gann, GRI, CAI Auctioneer/Realtor In Cooperation with Jonathan Klunk eXp Realty LLC LOCATION: 2503 DIXIE HWY, LOUISVILLE, KY BID NOW! 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