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Aluminum Bat Case Results in $850,000 Verdict From Montana Jury

Posted by: Joseph Stanley
November 18, 2009
Topic: Sports Legal News

A jury in Montana recently awarded $850,000 to the family of a pitcher hit in the head by a baseball that was hit off an aluminum bat.  The jury held the manufacturer of aluminum bats liable in the death of the 18 year old pitcher, Brandon Patch, who was struck in the head and died hours later.  The attorneys on behalf of Mr. Patch’s family successfully argued that the manufacturer, Hillerich & Bradsby Co., did not adequately warn of the dangers posed by aluminum bats in that such bats allow batters to hit a baseball harder than wooden bats. 

 

Professional baseball players, of course, cannot use aluminum bats, but from the collegiate level on down to little leagues, aluminum bats are ubiquitous.  Indeed, the above suit brought by Mr. Patch’s family is not unique.  A college pitcher for Cal State Northridge, sued the maker of Louisville Slugger bats after his skull was fractured by a line drive in an April 1999 game against the University of Southern California.  His suit alleged that the bat involved was “unsafe in both design and manufacture because the speed off the bat was significantly increased from the ball speed of wood or less powerful aluminum bats that been used in past years.” 

 

In another case, the parents of a high school pitcher in Oklahoma brought suit against Hillerich & Bradsby after their son was hit in the face with a line drive causing damage that required five metal plates, 75 staples and 12 screws to repair.  They argued in that case that the bat’s design caused the injury because its thin walls create a trampoline effect when a ball is hit and, moreover, the bat is filled with pressurized gas to prevent denting. 

 

Of course, there are literally thousands of games played each year without any injuries as the result aluminum bats.  As such, it is doubtful that aluminum bats are going away anytime soon.  However, coaches, teachers, and parents should be mindful of the risks involved, and should try to take steps to ensure that proper safety equipment is used, and that young ballplayers are coached correctly to help prevent tragedies like the above from happening.