Seventh-Inning Stretch · Heads Up!
Box A-31
Shaw v. Boston American League Baseball Co. (1950)
Charge: Negligence - fan struck in the head by a foul ball in a crowded, unscreened box with extra folding chairs (suit against the ballclub)Court: Supreme Judicial Court of MassachusettsDocket: Heads Up!
Is a ballclub liable when an experienced fan in a box overcrowded with extra folding chairs is hit by a foul ball she could not dodge?
The facts
In April 1942 a woman went to a big-league game in Boston with her husband and another couple. They sat in an unscreened box between home plate and first base, about 70 feet from the plate. The box had four seats, but two folding chairs were added in the passageway for extra guests, so she was squeezed against the rail. In the fifth or sixth inning she saw a foul ball leave the bat and turned away, but it hit her head a split second later. She had attended many games before.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: Shaw v. Boston American League Baseball Co., 325 Mass. 419, 90 N.E.2d 840 (1950)
Read more at law.justia.com. The source reveals the outcome.