NJ woman hit by ball sues Little Leaguer

[TexAg]

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/479226...-other_sports/

A New Jersey woman who was struck in the face with a baseball at a Little League game is suing the young catcher who threw it.

Elizabeth Lloyd is seeking more than $150,000 in damages to cover medical costs stemming from the incident at a Manchester Little League game two years ago. She's also seeking an undefined amount for pain and suffering.

Lloyd was sitting at a picnic table near a fenced-in bullpen when she was hit with the ball.

Catcher Matthew Migliaccio was 11 years old at the time and was warming up a pitcher.

There's no indication that it was intentional by the story. She didn't mention there was taunts, threats, or any previous interaction.

[AdamInNY]

Interesting that they requested a jury trial. Good luck with getting a jury to rule against an 11yo.

[mudvnine]

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/479226...-other_sports/

There's no indication that it was intentional by the story. She didn't mention there was taunts, threats, or any previous interaction.

Huh, did you miss this??

The lawsuit filed April 24 alleges Migliaccio's errant throw was intentional and reckless, "assaulted and battered" Lloyd and caused "severe, painful and permanent" injuries.

It was the next sentence after what you posted above.

But regardless, I just hope that Ms. Lloyd and her husband are hit with court costs and the defendants attorneys fees, when they lose this one miserably in the jury trial "They've demanded".

Some friggin' people are simply amazing with the BS they spew forth. :dismay:
Here Ms. Lloyd, this one's for you.....HEADS UP!!! :chainsaw:

[The Uncoach]

I'll reserve judgment without knowing more facts in this case, but my first instincts are this is ridiculous and frivolous.

[TexAg]

Huh, did you miss this??

No, I didn't miss that. I meant there was nothing to back up her allegation in the suit that it was intentional (taunts, threats, or any previous interaction). Granted, that might be reserved for their trial, but I would think they'd still mention a motivation for the errant throw. I know if I'm standing along the 1st base fence during warm-ups, I better be paying attention when 2nd, SS, and 3rd are making their throws. I lovingly call that area the "splash zone".

[tg643]

It happened on a LL field while the kid was in a LL uniform. He's protected by LL insurance.

[dominik]

Edit:

now I read it he was in the bullpen. If this is the case I think the facility of the game should have some responsibility too. If a fan can get hit by an errant bullpen throw it is not well constructed. I doubt he did it intentionally. or was there a story?

I really feel bad for him and his parents and wish them well (although they make them play in 3 teams at age 11 which probably means his career is over at 14 with a wrecked arm...). LL really should do something here.

[TexAg]

It happened on a LL field while the kid was in a LL uniform. He's protected by LL insurance.

from the article:

The count alleging negligence and carelessness is covered by homeowner's insurance, Pagano said, but the other counts are not. Little League has denied any coverage.

Lloyd's lawyer was out of the office Friday and could not be reached for comment.

Steve Barr, a spokesman for Little League, declined to comment on the litigation. He said each local league is required to have accident insurance, but that only covers personnel.

"That includes coaches, players, even concession stand workers. But it does not cover spectators," Barr said.

[tg643]

from the article:

Good luck suing a kid in civil court for damages. If she's lucky she'll be awarded his bat and glove. Maybe his bicycle.

[tg643]

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/479226...-other_sports/



There's no indication that it was intentional by the story. She didn't mention there was taunts, threats, or any previous interaction.

What you read in the news and what actually happened are usually two different stories. Never go by the news to judge anything legal.

[Mur5]

If it truly was an errant throw, with no back-lying story, the people suing should be disgusted with themselves. That type of selfishness is what’s wrong with the world today.

[CircleChange11]

What you read in the news and what actually happened are usually two different stories. Never go by the news to judge anything legal.

News articles, unfortunately, are often written to elicit and emotional response that garners attention (read: money for the newspaper).

Once more facts are known the situation often makes more sense.

We often see this in cases where, say, a handicapped player is cut from the team. There's usually enough facts listed that make it sound outrageous ... such as mentioning that the pitcher throws 82mph or something like that, where it presents a situation of "capability". But, then once you learn more and discover that the pitcher would be unable to cover bunts, cover 1st base, and/or cover home on passed balls ... then, the situation is one where the pitcher would be a liability to the team and/or present a situation where the opposing team would be viewed as "jerks" if they actually bunted for hits or took home on PB/WP on a pitcher that is unable to cover.

We've all seen kids warm-up in the bullpen unsupervised. Sometimes they do what they're supposed to do, sometimes they're goofing around. I'd be lying if I said I've never seen a catcher throwing knuckleballs/etc back to the pitcher in an unsupervised bullpen.

It's also possible that the bullpen/field is constructed in such a way that an incident like this was just a matter of time.

I think we need to more before we go crucifying the lady in question. I would say that the 150K is a reasonable amount to cover facial reconstruction/surgery if that's actually what was required. I think if she was suing for 1.5 million or something like that, we might be more reasonable in our "Uh, okay lady" type of comments.

[d-mac]

I think we need to more before we go crucifying the lady in question. I would say that the 150K is a reasonable amount to cover facial reconstruction/surgery if that's actually what was required. I think if she was suing for 1.5 million or something like that, we might be more reasonable in our "Uh, okay lady" type of comments.

And Lloyd's husband, in a third count, is suing for the loss of "services, society and consortium" of his wife.

This tells me that they are after all they can get. My question is where were they sitting? We were playing in a travel tournament about a month ago. The team that played in front of us was playing the game after ours so the parents took their chairs out to the right field line and sat there. Our pitcher was warming up doing his long toss and a ball two hopped over the fence, mainly because the grass/dirt was hard as a rock. The ball didn't even hit anyone. A mom started screaming at my catcher for not warning them and I was on my way down to watch our pitcher warm up and saw the whole thing. I went down there and it got ugly in a hurry. The tournament director had to get involved and took our side, if you don't want to get hit, go sit in the bleachers. The bleachers are there for a reason, if you go out down the line and get hit by a ball it is your own fault.

[skipper5]

I would say that the 150K is a reasonable amount to cover facial reconstruction/surgery if that's actually what was required

I have trouble envisioning an 11 yr-old throwing fast enough to severely injure someone's face.

If a ball leaves a child's hand at 60mph, and is going 50mph when it hits a face....painful, yes; disfiguring, no.

[MSandman]

Two years ago, I was pitching to my son in an indoor cage in March. He was a HS sophomore, around 5'9", 145 lbs or so. I was sitting on a chair behind an L-screen about 30-35' away when he blasted one THROUGH the screen! [At least he insists it went through, as he could easily put his hand through a hole in it; not-so-ironically, as soon as we left the facility in the ambulance, the owners immediately changed the net on that screen. I'm honestly not so sure I didn't get caught peeking.]
Mike's broken nose, day 2.jpeg

Anyway, I was fortunate that the ball hit me just below the bridge of my nose. An inch higher and it might've pushed my nose through my brain. An inch to the right, I might be blind. A few inches lower, no teeth. And had I turned my head sideways and taken it in the temple, even worse. However, "all" it did is shatter my nose and create a hematoma (blood clot). A couple days later, after the swelling reduced, surgery was performed to remove the hemtoma and straighten my nose. I had a horrible two weeks of recovery, but the doctor did a nice job. There's still a scar though from where the ball opened up a deep gash; they didn't stitch it though or it would've scarred worse. Instead, they used some sort of material similar to auto body bondo.

A few months later, I still wasn't breathing well at night, and another surgery was done (with some sort of electronic zapping rod?) to reduce my swollen turbinates and restore full breathing. That worked great too.

The two doctors who treated me said my nose was the worst damaged they'd ever seen, and that getting hit with a hit baseball from so close was like getting shot with a bullet. They also reminded me though that I was "lucky" it hit me in the nose.

My point for posting this is that, though I had medical insurance so I don't even really know what this cost, I can't imagine it was anywhere near $150k?! The owners of the facility are longtime friends and coaches of my son's. Seeing I had coverage and was paid for my couple weeks out of work, I didn't wish to sue them.

Maybe I should sue my son though?