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Don’t the Los Angeles Angels have enough problems?
The other MLB team in the City of Angels boasts perhaps the league’s two best players in Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, and yet it’s been a laughingstock for the better part of the last decade.
(Shoutout Tungsten Arm O’Doyle)
Things are slightly looking up for the Angels in 2023.
Sure, Ohtani appears headed out the door in free agency following the season. And yes, LA is in fourth place in the American League West.
BUT, they do have a 30-28 record and young players such as Logan O’Hoppe and Mickey Moniak (thank you, Philadelphia Phillies) look like they could become valuable players for the team for years to come.
However, this is the Los Angeles Angels we’re talking about. And anything that can go wrong for the Angels, will go wrong for the Angels.
Which is why the team is being sued by a (we’re guessing former) fan who was allegedly blinded by a ball thrown into the stands by then Angels outfielder Juan Lagares, who is currently a free agent.
Local news station KTLA5 reports that David Mermelstein, 55, is suing the Angels nearly a year after being hit in the face and eye by a souvenir ball during a game in Anaheim.
Mermelstein reportedly a June game at Angels Stadium with his friends in an effort to take his mind off recent personal tragedies: His father, a Holocaust survivor, had just died and he was diagnosed with brain cancer, according to the civil complaint.
(Angels owner Arte Moreno is worth a reported $4.1 billion. Maybe just give this poor some money either way.)
The alleged incident occured when Lagares caught the third out of the top of the 6th inning against the Kansas City Royals and “randomly hurled the ball into the stands at high velocity,” striking the unsuspecting Mermelstein on the left side of his face and eye, according to the complaint.
Mermelstein heard the crowd roar and looked up as the ball was coming toward his face. He tried to shield himself to no avail. The ball apparently crushed his eyeball, ruptured the globe and caused internal fluid from his eye to burst, the complaint details.
The MLB ticket terms and conditions says that a ticket holder “acknowledges and assumes all risks and dangers associated with: (a) being a spectator before, during, and after a baseball game (including all warm-ups, practices, pre-game, post-game and between-inning activities, promotions and competitions).”
It seems unlikely that Mermelstein will win his case. But given his story, you sort of can’t blame the guy for trying.