Getty Image
2021 World Series MVP Jorge Soler and the team he played for at the time, the Atlanta Braves, are being sued by a fan over something that happened during one of the games during the series – something that happens thousands of times every baseball season.
According to Atlanta News First, a fan named Mayra Norris filed the lawsuit because during game three of the 2021 World Series between the Braves and Houston Astros, Soler threw a ball into the stands and hit her in the face.
The lawsuit, filed in Cobb County Superior Court on Oct. 25, 2023, states Soler threw the ball “overhand, with a great deal of speed and force” into the stands at Truist Park.
In fact, according to Norris, Soler “threw the ball with such force and speed that it hit” her “with such force and speed that it hit Ms. Norris directly in her right eye causing extensive and excruciating injury.”
She is trying to circumvent the disclaimer that is provided with every ticket purchased to a baseball game by saying the incident happened while the ball was not in play.
For example, on the Chicago White Sox website, the disclaimer reads: “The holder assumes all risk and danger incidental to the Game, whether occurring prior to, during or subsequent to the actual playing of the Game, including specifically (but not exclusively), the danger of being injured by thrown bats, or fragments thereof, and thrown or batted balls, thrown, dropped or launched items or projectiles, other hazards, health risks, or distractions and any incidents or accidents associated with crowds of people.”
It also states that the team and other entities “are not liable for injuries, property damage or other loss resulting from such causes. BY ATTENDING THIS GAME, TICKET HOLDER IS DEEMED TO HAVE GIVEN A FULL RELEASE OF LIABILITY TO THE ENTITIES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.”
All caps theirs.
Norris is suing the Atlanta Braves because they didn’t “maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition” and did not “prevent reckless and dangerous conditions of which it knew or should have known.”
They did know. It warns about such a thing possibly happening right on the ticket.
While it’s understandable that she would want some compensation for her injury, should this lawsuit somehow cost Soler or the Braves any significant amount of money, then she could be solely responsible for putting an end to the thousands of baseballs that are tossed to fans every Major League Baseball season as souvenirs.