In 2007, James Falzon was in Shea Stadium watching the Mets play the Braves when Luis Castillo hit a fly ball, his bat broke, and the shards flew into Falzon's face. Falzon suffered a broken nose and eye socket and had to get permanent plates and pins in his face. So he sued both the Mets and bat-makers Rawlings over his injuries. But earlier this week a judge tossed out his suit against the Mets, saying the injuries are just a risk of seeing a ballgame.
Falzon claimed the Mets should have put netting around his seating area (second row along the third-base line) to keep foul balls and bat shards from flying into the stands. However, his suit against Rawlings is ongoing, and that could have legs. Castillo's bat was made from maple, which the MLB switched to recently from ash. MLB-commissioned studies show that maple bats have a tendency to break more—a 2008 study said maple bats were three times as likely to break in multiple places as ash bats. However, in 2008 the MLB changed their bat production standards and they say breakage has dropped.
League lawyer Carla Varriale noted, "(Falzon and his family) admit that they voluntarily sat in an unprotected area of Shea Stadium in field box seats that were located in close proximity to the playing field, with the knowledge that they could be injured." But Falzon's lawyer said, “Put simply, normal ash bats don’t break like that and no fan should be deemed to have accepted that increased risk."
