The family of a boy who suffered a fractured skull from an errant ball that struck him at Angel Stadium three years ago is suing, accusing the team of negligence.
Bryson Galaz, who was six at the time of the incident, had joined a crowd of autograph-seekers near the field-level box seats by third base when he was struck in the head by a ball thrown by Angels pitcher Keynan Middleton, according to the L.A. Times.
The family now says that the injury has had far-reaching consequences.
“For three days, we didn’t know if my son was going to live or die,” the boy’s mother, Beatrice Galaz, said. “We were relieved that he survived, but since that day he has struggled in school. He’s simply not the same.”
The Angels have not yet added netting along the foul lines as some teams have.
The lawsuit, which alleges that the team was negligent for not protecting the public as players were warming up, seeks damages, compensation for medical costs, and claims a likely loss of future earnings due to disability they say was caused by the accident.
The family attorney noted that the team should never have allowed players to throw toward the stands and that they should only have been allowed to throw parallel to the foul lines.
“All they had to do was change their formation,” attorney Kyle Scott said. “It’s not unforeseeable that somebody is going to miss a ball, and it’s going to be thrown hard enough to hurt somebody.”
Similar lawsuits have been ruled in favor of teams maintaining that fans should assume “the baseball rule” in that balls and bats may fly toward them during games. But the family attorney insists that this situation is different because the players were just warming up, not playing a game.
Scott also alleged that the team had refused to acknowledge letters the family had sent demanding that the team address the incident.
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