May 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 32

L AW R EV I EW

Reconsidering the Spectator
Protection 'Baseball Rule'
By James C. Kozlowski, J.D., Ph.D.

I

n the case of Summer J. v. United States Baseball Federation, 2020 Cal.
App. LEXIS 124 (2/18/2020), 12-year-old Summer J. was seriously
injured by a line drive foul ball while watching a baseball game sponsored by defendant U.S. Baseball.

Summer attended U.S. Baseball's national team trials on
August 17, 2014 at Blair Field,
located on the campus of California State University, Long
Beach (CSULB), a stadium jointly owned and maintained by the
city of Long Beach and CSULB.
Summer was seated in the grandstand or " spectator bleachers, "
an area of the stadium without
a protective screen or netting.
When she was " momentarily distracted from the field of play, "
Summer was struck in the face by
a line drive foul ball that caused
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| M AY 2 02 0 | PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N .O R G

serious injury, including damage
to her optic nerve.
Summer sued the city of Long
Beach, CSULB and U.S. Baseball,
alleging negligence and premises liability. In so doing, Summer
alleged defendant U.S. Baseball
sponsored the game at which she
was injured and controlled the stadium on that day.
Summer further alleged inadequate protective netting was provided for spectators at Blair Field
" in the perceived zone of danger
behind home plate. " In particular,
she claimed the " presence of some

limited netting at the stadium gave
Summer a false sense of security
that watching the game in a seat
beyond this protected area would
be safe. " In addition, Summer alleged " U.S. Baseball and the other
defendants were aware of the inadequate nature of the netting, yet
failed to provide any warnings regarding the danger of being struck
by a batted ball. "
In response, U.S. Baseball
claimed Summer's lawsuit was
barred under the primary assumption of risk doctrine. U.S. Baseball
also argued the alleged dangerous
condition at the stadium was open
and obvious, relieving it of any
duty to warn or correct the condition it might otherwise have.
Under the circumstances of this



May 2020 - Parks & Recreation

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