Foul Ball Research Articles

Foul Play: Fan Fatalities in Twentieth-Century Organized Baseball

The death of teenager Brittanie Cecil at a National Hockey League game in 2002 is a shocking reminder of the dangers inherent in many spectator sports. In both sports-related listservs and the national press, this incident has generated considerable discussion concerning injuries to fans, especially from objects flying into the stands. Nowhere are these safety concerns more an issue than in baseball. Even the most casual baseball observer is aware of the potential for harm from a screaming line drive into the seats. When a hard object flying at over 100 miles per hour strikes the human body, serious injury often results. No knows the number of balls hit into the stands during the course of a game, but estimate puts it at thirty-five to forty in the average Major League contest. (1) Of course not all fouls are line drives, but the potential for serious injury and death, especially for those sitting close to the field, is always present. What is the historical record concerning fan fatalities in organized baseball in the twentieth century? How many fans have died, and in what ways? Is the ball itself the only potential danger, or are other factors at play? This study explores these issues and discusses some of the safety improvements that have been instituted as a result. (2) The authors confirmed at least thirty-five fatalities since 1900 in Major and Minor League ballparks. Interestingly only five are ball related, and only two of these are from being struck by a foul ball (table 1). The remaining thirty deaths are due to either fan behavior (table 2) or stadium infrastructure (table 3). If thirty-five to forty foul balls enter the stands during a Major League game, how many result in serious injury? The plaintiff's attorney in a foul ball injury suit currently pending against the Detroit Tigers estimates one significant injury per ball game. (3) Whether accurate or not, no knows for sure because organized ball either doesn't keep or isn't releasing injury statistics. But it is safe to say that a foul hall injury is not an uncommon occurrence at any level of play. Many celebrated incidences of foul ball injuries exist. Two of the most widely known events involved Bob Feller in 1939 and Richie Ashburn in 1957. In the earlier case Feller's mother was struck over the eye while she watched him pitch on Mother's Day. (4) This injury occurred in the third inning while Feller was pitching to White Sox third baseman Mary Owen. Ashburn is notorious for striking the same woman twice in the same at bat. During a game on August 17, 1957, Ashburn's foul ball broke Mice Roth's nose. As the unfortunate Ms. Roth was being carried from the stands on a stretcher, Ashburn struck her a second time. Thankfully neither incident resulted in a fatality. Given that so many fouls enter the stands, it is truly remarkable that only two fan fatalities have been caused by being struck by a ball off a bat. As can be seen in table 1, thrown balls have resulted in as many fatalities even though errant throws into the stands occur much less frequently. (5) And considering how many fans lunge and leap for foul balls, it is interesting to note that the death of Daniel McCarthy is the only known incident in which a fan died pursuing a ball. Finally, the authors did not uncover a single incident in organized ball in which the bat itself resulted in fatal injury to either fans or players. With all these balls and bats flying into the stands, what is the legal liability of stadium owners and teams? Even in the early days of the game, lawsuits were common. In most cases the courts have decided in favor of the defendants. Why? Generally courts have held that the dangers inherent in baseball are widely known and that fans therefore assume the risk in attending games. Stadium owners do have an obligation to provide reasonable protective measures in the most dangerous areas of their parks and sufficient seating in the protected areas for those who typically may want to sit there. …

White House awaits huge innovation report

The big federal study on innovation is about over. Two weeks of public sessions have just been finished and now the staff of Jordan M. Baruch, assistant Commerce Secretary for science and technology, is boiling down the 150 recommendations and assorted critiques. Baruch will deliver a slim final report to White House domestic policy chief Stuart Eizenstat around the end of March. Hope is that President Carter, who ordered the study to find out what supposedly is holding back innovation, will have a list of actions that will be politically exploitable, Congressionally salable, sufficiently novel, and reflecting the real world. Pre-Baruch pretenders to the technology throne have gone to bat before in quest of establishing policy dominion. They all took swings, managed a couple of base hits, hit mostly foul balls, and really changed no basic rules of the game. Tax codes affecting research and development were altered here and there, antitrust policies remained unchanged, ...

A Softball Knowledge Test

Abstract In this study an instrument was constructed and evaluated for determining the extent of knowledge and the marking of college students. Statistical analysis of the test consisted of an odd-even reliability coefficient; and the item analysis of difficulty rating and the index of discrimination. A norm table and T-Scores are presented. The test, consisting of 60 true-false items, 25 completion, 5 fair or foul ball, and 10 the ball is in play or dead, is appended.

ADENOMA OF THE TRACHEA

Adenoma arising from the upper part of the trachea is rare. Schwartz,1who recorded an instance, was unable to find a report of a case of similar nature in the medical literature. My review of the available literature failed to reveal a similar case. It is therefore of interest to record a case of this condition in which the most prominent clinical feature was tracheal obstruction. REPORT OF A CASE A 35 year old baseball umpire and former baseball player was admitted to the North Carolina Baptist Hospital on Oct. 16, 1942 with a chief complaint of shortness of breath. His present illness began approximately four months previous to admission (June 1942) when he was umpiring a ball game and was struck by a foul ball on the left side of his neck. Severe pain followed the blow, and he was incapacitated for the balance of the game. The skin

Injury from Being Hit by a "Foul Ball"

Injury from Being Hit by a "Foul Ball"