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Not all that long ago, the ballpark provided parents and their children alike a nice place to enjoy the grand old game of baseball. Regardless of whether it was watching their young son don a little league uniform for the first time or trekking out to a major league stadium to watch the big boys play the game of summer, baseball provided millions of Americans nice respite and release from the rigors of day to day living. As a new baseball season dawned, baseball helped us shake off the cobwebs of another winter. Go to the old ball park, buy some peanuts or Cracker Jacks and have a good time. The baseball park reminded us that Spring had finally sprung and another winter was now in our rear view mirrors. A simple game, a simple innocence -- baseball was truly America’s pastime. That’s not to say that a day at the ball game wasn’t without a few distractions. There were always the overbearing parents who made a horse’s rump of themselves at the little league games as they derided the umpires, the opposing teams, the coaches and anyone else who crossed them. We heard them and felt sorry for the overzealous parents’ kids. Even at the high school, college and major league ball parks, there were always a group of fans that crossed the line between enthusiastically rooting for their team and displaying poor sportsmanship. But in spite of these annoyances, the game was still a great spectacle. The smell of grass, the crack of the bat, the banter of the ball players and the pop of a fast ball against the catcher’s mitt. These were the sounds of summer to be sure. Then about the same time artificial grass, designated hitters and aluminum bats started soiling the sanctity of the game, another set of unpleasant mugs appeared on the scene. Lawyers and lawsuits began to insidiously infiltrate our society and, not surprisingly, baseball as well. The advent of runaway litigation in America provided all of those loud mouthed parents and fans the unfettered ability to sue anyone and anything that got in their way. And sometimes baseball got in their way. If these spoiled brats (albeit adults), didn’t get their way, they would now take you to court. Once baseball was dragged into America’s courtrooms, it’s purity, simplicity and innocence was dragged into the dirt. Instead of the umpires “calling ‘em like they see ‘em”, judges were now making the calls. Am I overreacting a bit? Probably, but come on, do we really need all sorts of lawsuits over baseball, for crying out loud? Just in case you think I’ve lost all of my marbles, let’s take a quick look at some of the goofier lawsuits that have been filed over the grand old game of baseball. STRIKE ONE: A little leaguer was warming up, taking a couple of practice swings with a bat, when he accidentally struck a teammate in the head. The parents of the kid that got hit sued both the player and the Little League for negligence. STRIKE TWO: In yet another Little League incident, a coach was hitting some practice balls to his players. Unfortunately, one of the balls ended up knocking out the two front teeth of one of his players. The player’s parents sued the volunteer coach, who ended up paying an undisclosed amount to settle the case. STRIKE THREE: In keeping with the kids will be kids and the parents will be litigants theme, a parent sued his child’s coach because the team did not have a winning season, demanding $2,000 in compensation, claiming that his son lost the chance to compete in a championship tournament because of the coach's inability to teach baseball. The municipal court judge, who tossed the lawsuit out, had a few choice words to say in his dismissal statement. “What youth players should know is this: in life, as in sports, you will try and sometimes fail. There will be no apparent reward except to know that you did your best. The fact that your team lost does not mean it was your coach’s fault.” Do you think the parents got the message? I doubt it.
Still don't think lawsuits have gone too far,
then just ask Atlanta Braves outfielder Andruw Jones. Until last year,
Andruw probably never thought twice about tossing a baseball into the
crowd. However, his kind gesture one night last July resulted in a
lawsuit. Then of course there's the lawsuit over possession of Barry Bond's 73rd home run ball hit at the end of the 2001 major league season. To make a long and nasty story short and nasty, one guy snagged the ball and then lost the ball in the ensuing melee when others in the right field stands attempted to wrestle the ball from him. As the guy was mauled, the ball was dislodged and another gentleman (not part of the mauling contingent) ended up with the ball. So who did the ball rightfully belong to? Both claimed possession of the very valuable ball. Rather than take the high road and agree to share in the ownership, the two guys did what most Americans choose to do when they disagree nowadays ... hire some lawyers and then swing for the fence.
After a lengthy lawsuit, the judge rightly
ruled that both men should share in the proceeds from the sale of the
ball. Couldn't they have agreed to do this over a year ago? Of course they
could have -- and they should have. Now, after all of the legal wrangling
by both sides, a large portion of the projected sale proceeds (which could
potentially approach $1.5 million) will go to the lawyers to cover both
parties' enormous legal fees. Such frivolous litigation simply undermines the world of baseball and leaves players, owners, parents and fans wondering what type of lawsuit a greedy personal injury lawyer will dream up next. The famous 7th inning stretch at many major league ballparks also includes the singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." The closing words of the song couldn't be any more appropriate. For it's one, two, three strikes -- you're out -- at the old ball game. Until next time, keep swinging and try to have a lawyer free day! Hey, if you’ve got a goofy lawsuit you’d like to pass on to us, simply click Stupid Lawsuits and Other Funny Stuff and we’ll add yours to our ever growing list of stupid lawsuits. And while you’re at in, why not take a few moments and check out our growing collection of Funny Lawyer Quotes, Jokes and Cartoons? It’s Time to Wake Up and Smell the Lawyers: If you haven’t read our highly acclaimed book, you’re missing out on a load of information about America’s legal system – and a load of laughs as well. You can read excerpts taken from the book by clicking book chapter summaries here. Hopefully you'll take a few minutes and peruse our extensive listing of stupid lawsuits by clicking Stupid Lawsuits and Other Funny Stuff. I'm sure you will agree that these stupid lawsuits could probably be classified in the following categories: the bad, the worse and you've got to be kidding me. You can sign up for our FREE newsletter by clicking subscribe in the box on the left hand side of this page. Please tell your friends, relatives and business associates about our Lawyers Stink E-mail Newsletter. They can subscribe at our web site: http://www.power-of-attorneys.com (of course you can e-mail this newsletter to them!). If you would like to review past issues of our Lawyers Stink E-mail Newsletter, simply click view back issues of our newsletter. We always respect your privacy and will not share your e-mail address with anyone. If, at any time, you decide that you don’t want to receive this newsletter any longer, simply follow the unsubscribe directions at the bottom of your newsletter. Thanks for reading this issue of the Lawyers Stink Email Newsletter and we’ll see you next month. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions about our newsletter.
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