Recently, the Missouri Supreme Court asked a simple question: What should you expect when you go to a baseball game?
How did this come about? The story is stranger than you think. The scene: The Kansas City Royals' Kauffman Stadium. The culprit: The Royals' erstwhile mascot, "Sluggerrr." Among Sluggerrr's many duties is the manning of a high-pressure hot dog-launching gun (seen above), which he uses to shoot mystery-meat wieners to about 20 to 30 lucky fans each game.
However, one such fan, John Coomer, was not so lucky. Sluggerrr, either out of boredom or hubris, decided to execute a behind-the-back shot. The dog flew into the air and headed right for Mr. Coomer's face, resulting in a severe eye injury that required multiple surgeries. Coomer sued.
In their defense, the Royals put forth a simple assertion: Mr. Coomer assumed the risk of being hit with a hot dog by dint of attending a professional baseball game. After all, it's well established that spectators assume the risk of being hit with balls and bats, so why not comestibles as well?
The Missouri Supremes disagreed, writing that being hit with a hot dog by a mascot is not an "inherent risk" of watching a baseball game. "Millions of fans have watched the Royals (and its forebears in professional baseball) play the National Pastime for the better part of a century before Sluggerrr began tossing hotdogs, and millions more people watch professional baseball every year in stadiums all across the country without the benefit of such antics."
This seems a bit short-sighted. While mascots throwing things into crowds is certainly a newer invention, there is no question that nowadays it is ubiquitous, and, dare I say it, expected, by many folks who head out to the ballpark these days. Indeed, between video screens, inter-inning foot races, blaring music, and everything else going on, sometimes you'd be hard-pressed to know there was baseball being played at all.
The court's dream of a back-to-basics baseball game experience – with maybe a little bit of organ music thrown in – isn't a bad idea. But it doesn't mean they got this one right.
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