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Jury awards $850,000 in lawsuit over aluminum bats

10/28/2009 10:30:02 PM

Comments (10)

Associated Press

HELENA, Mont. -- A jury on Wednesday found that the maker of Louisville Slugger baseball bats failed to adequately warn about the dangers the product can pose, awarding a family $850,000 for the 2003 death of their son in a baseball game.

The family of Brandon Patch argued that aluminum baseball bats are dangerous because they cause the baseball to travel at a greater speed. They contended that their 18-year-old son did not have enough time to react to the ball being struck before it hit him in the head while he was pitching in an American Legion baseball game in Helena in 2003.

The Lewis and Clark County District Court jury awarded a total of $850,000 in damages against Hillerich & Bradsby for failure to place warnings on the product.

The teen's mother, Debbie Patch, was stunned by the verdict. The family rejoiced and cried as the verdict was read.

"We never expected it," she said. "We just hoped we could get the truth out for more people to see."

Patch said she hopes the decision will make more people aware of the dangers associated with aluminum bats and that more youth leagues will switch to using wooden bats.

"We just want to save someone else's life," Patch said.

The attorneys for Hillerich & Bradsby declined to comment. They had argued that accidents are bound to happen in baseball games and there's nothing inherently unsafe about aluminum baseball bats.

Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association's Don't Take My Bat Away Program, a sporting goods trade group, said that while Patch's death is tragic, the exact same thing could have happened with a wooden bat.

Curt Drake, one of the family's attorneys, said the jury arrived at the total by awarding $792,000 to Brandon Patch for his lost earnings and pain and suffering, an amount that goes to his estate. The family was awarded $58,000 for their pain and suffering and damages.

Judge Kathy Seeley is still considering punitive damages in the case.

In the verdict Wednesday, the jury also decided the product was not defective. Drake said that decision was not significant, since the jury found it posed a threat without an adequate warning label.

The attorney said the family's victory will not likely change the way aluminum bats are used, but that it could help give momentum to efforts calling for a switch to wood bats in youth baseball.

Metal bats came into vogue in amateur sports in the 1970s, but professional baseball still uses wood bats. Some amateur teams have decided to switch in recent years, in part due to Patch's death.

"We should go back to the way baseball is supposed to be played, the way professional baseball is played," said Debbie Patch.

Brandon Patch was pitching for the Miles City Mavericks when the ball ricocheted off his head, eventually falling behind first base after traveling as high as 50 feet in the air.

Patch went into convulsions on the field in front of a horrified crowd and died within hours from his injury.

On the Net:

Brandon Patch Memorial, http://www.forever11.com

Don't Take My Bat Away Coalition, http://www.dtmba.com/

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There are 10 comments - Display All Comments

madrick
rochester, MN

Posted on 10/29/2009 at 7:55:46 AM

Unbelievable! I wonder if they knew there was a use of aluminum bats before signing up for the team.

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quick on
the trigg
somewhere out there, mn

Posted on 10/29/2009 at 8:37:24 AM

Another frivolous lawsuit..how much will the lawyer get I wonder!
This is plain stupid..you play the game, you take risks. Heck you live your life, you take risks.
I’m sure that the kids would have still played the game, EVEN with a warning label on the bat.

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madrick
rochester, MN

Posted on 10/29/2009 at 8:41:46 AM

There lies part of the problem...lottery winners.

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ru4real
Rochester, MN

Posted on 10/29/2009 at 9:07:12 AM

Yes, it’s tragic that a person died playing the game he loved, but come on. Maybe they should have sued the other guy for swinging the bat to fast. Or, maybe they should have sued the league for not making a pitcher wear a helmet to protect his head? A wooden bat would have done the same thing. At the age of 18, and playing the game for years, you know the risks. I broke my leg sliding into 2nd base when I hit the base, maybe I should sue the company that makes the bases, I could say they make them to stiff, and there is no warning on them.

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HonkerFan
Columbus, WI

Posted on 10/29/2009 at 9:16:55 AM

We need a national law requiring a 7 day waiting period on these dangerous weapons. Or better yet, we should ban aluminum bats. Let’s get the UN involved too.

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flightlin
e
Rochester, mn

Posted on 10/29/2009 at 9:41:31 AM

Most folks would feel sorry for the family, while at the same time wondering who gave their son permission to play a position directly in front of the batter. A pitcher at the time a hit occurs, is frequently off balance, maybe on one leg, and in no position to dodge a hard hit directly at his head, regardless of the bat’s composition.
Just a symptom of the Nanny State.

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BillChris
topher
Olmsted County, MN

Posted on 10/29/2009 at 10:03:13 AM

The first two words of the article explains why: “A jury”

Most often when you put someone who was hurt, juries will rule for the plaintiff believing that if someone gets hurt, someone else must pay.

My guess is that if this kid tragically had perished in a single car wreck, they’d found fault in the auto manufacturer.

Death is a negative and certain consequence of life.

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VA172
Southeast, MN

Posted on 10/29/2009 at 12:22:12 PM

Wow! Now you can sued for playing baseball. Were the tears shed for the verdict or for the money they got.

I wonder how big the award would be if a wooden bat broke and impelled a player and he/she too lost their life.

The warning label could have been put on the bat by just asking the company to do it. A law suit would not have been required to get that done. This was about the money. Why is that people think a monetary reward is justice?

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Birddog
rochester, mn

Posted on 10/29/2009 at 12:34:07 PM

“We just want to save someone else’s life,” Patch said.

Then I would hope to see a headline tomorrow stating they donated ALL of the money to the Gift of Life Foundation.

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GOP507
Rochester, MN

Posted on 10/29/2009 at 6:32:41 PM

“We just want to save someone else’s life”

Yeah that’s bs they’re thinking maybe a christmas shopping spree will make me feel better. This is so stupid.

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Debbie Patch, right, and Duane Patch react Tuesday as a Lewis and Clark County jury found bat maker Hillerich & Bradsby Co. liable for the 2003 death of their son Brandon when a batted ball struck him in the temple during a game against the Helena Senators. On Wednesday, the jury awarded the couple $850,000.