
According to a lawsuit filed last week, a woman sustained “significant and excruciating injuries” after former Atlanta Braves outfielder Jorge Soler tossed a ball into the stands during the 2021 World Series.
As to the legal complaint filed in Cobb County Superior Court in Georgia, Soler threw a ball into the seats after finishing warm-up tosses on October 29, 2021, shortly before the fifth inning started.
Susan Shaw, Norris’s attorney, stated in the case that she was injured while sitting in Section 109 of Atlanta’s Truist Park, near the right field foul pole, with her husband and brother-in-law.
As stated in the lawsuit, the toss was not your ordinary arching loop that most players throw into the stands.
The complaint states that “Defendant Soler threw the ball overhand, with a lot of force and intensity in the very direction of” Norris.
According to the reports, Norris was struck “directly in her right eye bringing extensive and painful injury to her right eye.”
Infra-orbital abrasion, right eye edema, and several fractures were among the injuries sustained, and the lawsuit states that Norris has been compelled to “seek extensive medical treatments for the injuries,” some of which would “require long-term medical care.”
A long-standing tenet of civil law is that spectators to baseball games give up almost all claims of harm caused by balls and bats flying into the stands.
For many years, tickets were printed with legal text that informed attendees that as soon as they passed through the turnstiles, they acknowledged all risk of being struck by bats or balls.
The Braves vehemently denied any misconduct.
A team representative released a statement on Thursday night stating, “Mrs. Norris’ injury was not due to any carelessness on the part of Jorge Soler, the Braves, or anybody affiliated with our organization.”
“We plan to respond to the claims, refute them, and move right away for the case to be dismissed by the court on the basis of the unmistakably established legal precedent, not only in Georgia but nationwide as well.”
According to Georgia State University law professor Kelly Cahill Timmons, there may be some “wiggle room” in the long-standing “baseball rule” requiring fans to give up their rights, which could apply to Norris’ argument.
Timmons stated that although it’s reasonable to assume that a club or player cannot be held accountable for a foul ball, home run, or wayward bat hitting a fan, deliberate activities that are not related to play, like a post-warmup toss, may give rise to legal action.
In 2014, the Missouri Supreme Court decided that the Kansas City Royals were not completely innocent after their mascot, Sluggerrr, fired a hot dog into a man’s eye using an air cannon, purportedly resulting in a damaged retina.
“I don’t think that this is a case where there’s no way that she could win because it’s so obvious that (Soler’s throw) is part of attending a baseball game,” Timmons said to NBC News on Thursday.
Unrelatedly, Timmons spent a significant portion of her Thursday giving a lecture to students on torts in which she covered the background of cases involving baseball fans in court.
“I don’t know if we can say such a player purposefully throwing the ball in the stands when the game is not going on is important enough in the game of baseball that everybody who goes to a game ought to presume that would happen,” Timmons stated.
“Well, we enjoy it when athletes engage with supporters. It makes kids thrilled to be thrown a baseball. However, the game doesn’t always require that.”
The complaint from Norris’s attorneys stated that the defendants “breached their duty” by “allowing for dangerous and reckless conduct by” Soler and by “failing to keep the place of business in a safe and proper condition.”
Game 3 of the World Series, which Norris attended, saw the Braves defeat the Houston Astros, 2-0. In six games, Atlanta went on to win the world championship.
Soler signed a deal with the Miami Marlins prior to the following season, leaving Atlanta. Kim Ng, the general manager of Miami at the time, made one of the biggest free-agent transactions.
With the exception of the 2020 season, which was cut short due to the pandemic, Soler was instrumental in helping the Marlins to their first winning season since 2009.
This past season, he hit a team-high 36 home runs, which tied for the 12th-best total in MLB.
On Thursday, it was not possible to get in touch with Soler’s Los Angeles agent right away for comment.