When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amoré. But when a hot dog hits you in the eye at a sporting event, that’s a lawsuit. A renegade sausage, a man in a fuzzy lion costume, and an unlucky sports fan in the wrong place at the wrong time are some of the characters involved in one of the wackiest headlines to appear in personal injury lawsuit news in quite some time.
Jim Croomer was enjoying a night out at a Kansas City Royals baseball game last September. Croomer had what he thought were perfect seats — six rows up from the dugout along the action-packed third baseline. During a lighthearted break in the game, the Royals’ lion mascot, Sluggerrr, climbed atop the third base dugout and began firing hot dogs into the crowd from a cannon. Next, the mascot began hurling wieners to the fans by hand, and that’s when things got ugly. As Sluggerrr attempted a fancy, backwards toss, Jim Croomer alleges that the flying frank fell short of its target and hit him right in the eye.
Despite how humorous the event might seem, Croomer’s lawsuit against the Kansas City Royals, filed early in February of 2010, is no joke. He claims the hot dog caused a detached retina, and that he has had to undergo several surgeries. The faux lion is not personally named in the lawsuit, but Jim Croomer’s legal team does target the Kansas City Royals for liability because the mascot was acting in the course and scope of his employment at the time.
It will certainly be up to the Kansas City courts to review all of the facts involved in this case, but sports fans could also learn a thing or two from the record. For example, when you see a lion armed with hot dogs, be prepared to duck.
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