You're at Safeco Field to watch a Mariners game. Joe Baseball is coming up to bat. He swings...and a miss. He swings and *crack* the ball goes flying in the air and the next thing you know, the ball smacks into your face. You notice your vision is altered and you are diagnosed with a detached retina. Did you assume the risk?
Answer:
“[E]veryone who participates in or attends a baseball game assumes the risk of being hit by a ball,” because “the risk of being hit by a baseball is a risk inherent to the game.” Sheppard by Wilson v. Midway R-1 Sch. Dist., 904 S.W.2d 257, 262 (Mo. App. W.D. 1995).
Question 2:
You're at Safeco Field to watch a Mariners game. Between innings, the Mariner Moose comes out to rally the crowd by shooting t-shirts and treats out of an airgun. Everyone is on their feet shouting, hoping, praying for a free treat. As the crowd chants, "THE MOOSE IS ON THE LOOSE...THE MOOSE IS ON THE LOOSE..." you turn away for just a second to look at the scoreboard and *pop* a foil wrapped hot dog smacks you in the face. You notice your vision is altered and you are diagnosed with a detached retina. Did you assume the risk?
Answer:
The Missouri Court of Appeals decided in a recent opinion that "the risk of being hit in the face by a hot dog is not a well-known incidental risk of attending a baseball game. Consequently, a plaintiff may not be said to have consented to, and voluntarily assumed, the risk merely by attending the game." Coomer v. Kansas City Royals Baseball Corp., No. WD74040, 2013 WL 150838, at *3 (Mo. Ct. App. Jan. 15, 2013).
For more facts from the Kansas City Royals case, see here and here.
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